Society is a 1989 Thriller, Mystery, Horror film directed by Brian Yuzna,
As stated by Empire “Billy Whitney (Warlock) should be very happy. A top dog at sports, an attractive girlfriend and one of the popular guys at the Beverly Hills Academy, Billy would appear to have everything going for him.” Which is absolutely true, but Billy has been feeling a little “off” lately and if he tries to discover what’s going on with his so-called family he would be scratching the surface of the society that is thriving right under his nose. Things continue to get worse and spiral out of control as Billy starts to hallucinate he becomes uneasy and stressed because he parents show more attention to his sister and her coming out party (which is a party he should be happy he missed), the student body president election, and his sister crazy ex-boyfriend that shows Billy a tape recording that changed his life and confirmed his suspicion. The audiotape suggests that the family engages in orgies and incest which is later confirmed by Billy when he goes to a visitor his trusty therapist who is a member of the society which is known because he says the magic phrase that every member says “ You’ll be a wonderful contribution to society”. The analyst changed the audio of the tape and tells him to “accept society’s rules”, but what kind of society is it where conspiracy and deceit are rampant? The Society takes drastic measures to keep the society a secret the members destroy evidence and try to frame Billy by making him seem crazy, they go above and beyond to accomplish this which leads to a huge plot twist that goes completely unexplained and will have you wondering “WTF DID I JUST WATCH”, “The first half of the film builds up a convincing sense of alienation with Billy discovering that absolutely nothing is as it seems. The second half switches gear completely and the special effects are served up with commendable relish. Director Yuzna’s gleeful quote in the production information is the only clue you’ll get here: “Some extras were glued to that blubbery, slimy mess for 10 hours a day!”. The final part of the film exposes the truth that Billy always knew that he wasn’t apart of the family that raised him, that he was adopted and it was all act, entertain for the society. This ending adds a double entendre for the phrase “ You’ll be a great contribution to society” ( this part has me confused because I don’t know if they raised him from birth or brainwashed him). The Ending is great I won’t spoil all of it but the saying “The rich have always fed off the poor” takes a literal sense in this movie. Overall the movie is great and if you don’t have good common sense like me, this film will make you feel better because Billy didn’t use any of his. I challenge you to watch this movie and count all the times Billy made a stupid decision and your best guess of what the society
Sunny On Films 