Headscratchers / The Perfection

• The whole explanation for the sequence with the insect-disease makes no sense, because it requires that Charlotte have almost impossible foreknowledge of how everything would fall into place: (1) How'd she know they'd encounter the violently sick man at the beginning, thus planting the idea in Lizzie's head? (2) How'd she know Lizzie would be so hungover she'd beg for ibuprofen? (3) How'd she know Lizzie would grab an unwisely large number of the pills? (4) How'd she know what Lizzie would hallucinate about, so that it would lead her to think her arm was infected with this bizarre disease? (5) How'd she predict the string of events that would lead them to a deserted area, conveniently away from witnesses or anyone who might interfere, and giving her the opportunity to explain the truth to her soon after the ordeal?
  • I admit some of the latter parts don't make as much sense. Though I can see how the beginning worked. (1) She didn't know. She had the idea after seeing the sick man to use it for paranoia, if they hadn't seen him, she'd probably go for something else. (2) Lizzie mentioned she hadn't drunk a lot while studying, so as long they were off into a heavy bender, the odds of her waking up with a terrible headache would be high. Even if it wasn't that bad, Charlotte would still give her the fake ibuprofen. (3) Maybe she guesses that from Lizzie's personality, or intends to give her more than what she asked for anyway. From 4 onwards, I have no answer aside from subtle manipulation, but even that seems flimsy.
  • (4) We see Charlotte deliberately ask “Are those bugs?” after Lizzie throws up on the bus, and then react similarly (again at nothing) when they’re alone. Both times, she’s betting that if she puts the idea in Lizzie’s head, Lizzie will hallucinate it. This seems fairly reasonable, and has been done in fiction before; for instance, Sherlock Holmes deliberately lies to manipulate what Watson will hallucinate in The Hound of the Baskervilles. (5) Is more of a gamble, but she seems to be assuming that if Lizzie gets sick enough on the bus, the bus driver will kick her off. All she has to do is get off with her. This is the biggest risk, but it does pay off. If the driver hadn’t done so, she could have simply threatened people with the knife to achieve the same goal.
  • Charlotte only really seems to get the idea when she sees Lizzy's tattoo, presumably forming the plan from the sickness and the rest. She seems to be playing more on the fly than having the plan concocted fully from the start. On the bus, she first mentions bugs and then when Lizzy throws up, asks "are those bugs?" to plant the suggestion in her head. It's not exactly perfect or realistic, but the film does have the answers there.

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