Characters play a vital role in the development of a story. Some characters put a huge emphasis on our minds, and their presence changes the entire perception of the movie. The characters of Sunny and Dorian are one of a kind, and their lives highlight different aspects of the Netflix thriller film “The Perfumier” that changes the entire perception of the movie. The movie talks about the estranged lives of two individuals, Dorian and Sunny. Both of them are plunged into the depths of loneliness and obsession. Well, this film is inspired by Patrick Süskind’s novel ‘Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. “The Perfumier” captures the complexity of these characters, and the fact that it was depicted with visible similarities and differences is the most amazing part. Well, Dorian is obsessed with his ability to smell, and throughout his life, his main motive was to create fragrances that would resemble the human soul. To get happiness, Dorian had to sacrifice multiple elements, but he chose crime to implement his talents. To obtain his dream, he committed a heinous string of murders.
Dorian wanted to create a perfume that would inculcate feelings and the warmth of love. He wanted to break the barriers that stopped him from making a love perfume. Dorian would go to extreme lengths to achieve his goal which required a special ingredient. Well, this ingredient was the skin of humans. But there’s a catch. Dorian was only interested in skinning young women, and his crimes were so horrific that he would brutally injure them. On the other hand, Sunny had a different outlook on life. Sunny was obsessed with happiness, and throughout her life, her sole motive was to attain happiness, and for her happiness began with all the little things like love and family. For Sunny, happiness was a fleeting moment just like her sense of smell. She suffered from Anosmia, and it created an invisible between her and the world.
Sunny wanted to have an experience of everything in life, and this included her love for Juro. But just like all the other lovers, Sunny couldn’t experience the openness of being in a loving relationship. Juro was a married man, and his confusion between his wife and Sunny created an invisible wall between them. On the outside, they were deeply in love, but on the inside, it was Sunny who was trying to hold on. Juro provided her with the warmth she needed, yet her heart didn’t give into his gestures. Sunny wanted more from this relationship; she wanted to build a life with him, but Juro couldn’t deal with it. Sunny had a strong feeling that the new beginnings would bring much more meaning to her life, and at that time, she didn’t expect to have her life intertwined with “The Perfumier.” Well, Dorian never loved anyone, and his entire life depended on his best friend, Rex. Rex and Dorian had a distinctive bond, and she was the only person who loved him for his originality.
Rex helped him to achieve his dreams and got him everything that his heart desired. Well, this time, he wanted the skin of a young woman. Little by little, Rex numbered the killings for Dorian, and he put in all his knowledge to create the potion of his dreams. But he failed in his attempts and ended up making a sex perfume. Dorian felt devastated and decided to burn all the perfume that he had made. But amidst this chaos, he got into a huge fight with Rex, and both of them forgot that the cops were tracking them. Juro and Sunny managed to arrest Rex, but Dorian escaped from the crime scene. Dorian was blinded by his obsession to create a love perfume, and in this rage, he forgot to burn the last bottle of the sex perfume. Well, this bottle quickly attracted Sunny, and she decided to steal it. Even though she couldn’t smell it, the perfume had a strong aura around it.
Sunny wanted to depend on Dorian to regain her sense of smell, and here, viewers will realize that both the characters were vaguely similar to each other. Sunny wanted to feel the warmth of her baby, and she knew that Dorian was the only person who could help her. On the other hand, Dorian wanted to create a love perfume, and for him, nothing else mattered. He wanted to prove that his perfume could be bigger and better than any man’s will. Our childhood plays a very important role, and both of them were neglected by their families at a very young age. Sunny was perfectly normal in her childhood. But her current situation had a lot to do with her trauma. Like other children, Sunny didn’t get a chance to experience feelings of love and appreciation. After her dad left, Sunny and her mother were all alone, and she often neglected Sunny. One day, Sunny got a severe cold, and she never received any medicine for her treatment. This cold took away her sense of smell and the happiness in her life. A part of her childhood imprinted on her mind left a huge scar that was impossible to erase. This time she didn’t want her child to experience the same feeling, and to keep her child happy, Sunny was ready to do anything. She blindly trusted a serial killer who desperately wanted to kill her for the fragrance that her body carried.
Dorian’s past was disturbing and heartbreaking, and this could explain his obsession with love. Growing up, Dorian had a bad stench to his sweat, and after his birth, even his mother didn’t hold him in her arms. Dorian was ignored and neglected by his parents, as they didn’t provide him with any compassion. His smell created an invisible wall between him and the ones he loved. Everyone was scared of his stench, and at one point, Dorian understood that he had to get rid of his stench. Dorian scrubbed his body until his skin bled, and as a child, he never understood that it wasn’t the right way to resolve anything. Soon, he wanted to create a human scent for himself, and this marked his first murder, and that was a chimpanzee. To stop him from committing more sins, Dorian’s father burned his nose with hot liquid. This explains the hatred that he had for his family. His love would’ve saved him from all the sins, but his family chose to hurt him, and this resulted in a huge void in his heart. For years, Dorian spent his time alone, and during all this time, he mastered the sense of smell. Well, the right intervention would’ve changed him, but his parents failed to understand that their hatred forced his mind to suppress his feelings and impulses. Well, Sunny and Dorian had a similar childhood, but Sunny decided to look for happiness in all the little things, whereas Dorian wanted to recreate happiness.
