Long before Winnie-The-Pooh: Blood and Honey reimagined a beloved talking bear as a rampaging murderer, another — arguably much stranger — movie already somewhat beat it to the chase. Years ahead of his appointment as the voice of Paddington Bear in a duo (soon to be trio) of family favorite films, Ben Whishaw starred in 2007’s Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, which — in case that pretty prosaic title doesn’t tell you — is most definitely not all-ages entertainment.
“Sensual” is a word that gets thrown around a lot when it comes to movies that show a lot of skin, but that descriptor has never been more apt than with Perfume, given that Whishaw’s anti-hero has a super-sense. Specifically, super-smell. This psychological thriller follows peasant outcast Jean-Baptiste Grenouille as he stalks his way through in 18th century France, killing countless women in a twisted bid to distill and bottle their scents.