The Neon Demon (2016) Online

2016 Elle Fanning Christina Hendricks Keanu Reeves Nicolas Winding Refn

Original Title :: The Neon Demon
Genre :: Movie / Horror / Thriller
Year :: 2016
Directror :: Nicolas Winding Refn
Cast :: Elle Fanning,Christina Hendricks,Keanu Reeves
Writer :: Nicolas Winding Refn,Nicolas Winding Refn
Budget :: $7,000,000
Type :: Movie
Time :: 1h 57min
Rating :: 6.2/10

An aspiring model, Jesse, is new to Los Angeles. However, her beauty and youth, which generate intense fascination and jealousy within the fashion industry, may prove themselves sinister.

The Neon Demon (2016) Online

The sixteen year-old aspiring model Jesse arrives in Los Angeles expecting to be a successful model. The aspirant photographer Dean takes photos for her portfolio and dates her. Jesse befriends the lesbian makeup artist Ruby and then the envious models Gigi and Sarah in a party. Meanwhile, the agency considers Jesse beautiful with a "thing" that makes her different and she is sent to the professional photographer Jack. Jesse attracts the attention of the industry and experiences a successful beginning of her career. Ruby, Gigi and Sarah, however, will do whatever is necessary to get this "thing" for themselves.

Cast overview, first billed only:
	Elle Fanning	-	Jesse
	Karl Glusman	-	Dean
	Jena Malone	-	Ruby
	Bella Heathcote	-	Gigi
	Abbey Lee	-	Sarah
	Desmond Harrington	-	Jack
	Christina Hendricks	-	Roberta Hoffmann
	Keanu Reeves	-	Hank
	Charles Baker	-	Mikey
	Jamie Clayton	-	Casting Director
	Stacey Danger	-	Casting Assistant
	Rebecca Dayan	-	Dresser
	Helen Wilson	-	Seamstress
	Houda Shretah	-	Roberto Sarno's Assistant
	Taylor Hill	-	Flirty Model #1

The film was shot in chronological order, and the ending was created and improvised on-set, according to Elle Fanning.

One of the film's most striking features is its use of color. In an interview, Director Nicolas Winding Refn stated that he is in fact color blind, and can only perceive contrast and primary colors.

Elle Fanning was sixteen years old when the film started shooting, turned seventeen during filming, and eighteen years old when the film premiered.

Nicolas Winding Refn made Elle Fanning watch Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) for her preparation.

Originally, a crew member was going to break the mirror in the bathroom. However, when he hit the mirror with a heavy vase, nothing happened. Nicolas Winding Refn panicked. So in a last minute effort, he asked Abbey Lee to throw a trashcan into the mirror in one shot, hoping for the best. On the first take, the mirror broke in a hundred pieces. This is the shot that was used in the film.

The second film by Nicolas Winding Refn to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival that received booing and cheering after the press showing. The first film was Only God Forgives (2013).

Elle Fanning reveals in the movie's commentary, that she kept her eyes open for so long for the opening shot, that her contact lenses were burned onto her eyes by the hot lights.

The contortionist bondage in the show that Jesse and Ruby watch, was actually a crew member that volunteered to be put in bondage.

Throughout production, when filming was to resume, Nicolas Winding Refn wouldn't yell "Action!" to set things in motion. Instead he yelled "Violence, motherf*****s".

The film is dedicated to Nicolas Winding Refn's wife, Liv Corfixen. Corfixen also appears in the film as a restaurant guest in the "Beauty is not everything. It's the only thing" scene. According to Refn, this is one of his few films his wife liked.

Nicolas Winding Refn allegedly chose to film at The Paramour Mansion, because it's rumored to be haunted.

Elle Fanning, Jena Malone, Bella Heathcote, and Abbey Lee had to endure a lot of fake movie blood during production, even having to taste a portion of it. The crew made it taste like syrup, in order to make it more pleasing for the performers.

Alessandro Nivola was originally supposed to play the part of Jack, but due to commitments to a play in London, he could not play the part due to the schedule, which had the film shot in chronological order. Nivola and Nicolas Winding Refn still wanted him in the film, so Refn cast him in the part of the fashion designer. The part was originally smaller, and written as a woman. Also, the mustache Nivola had was grown for the play, and could not be shaven. However Refn liked it, and thought it added to the character.

Keanu Reeves improvised the line "Room Two-Fourteen! Gotta be seen!"

This is the first female-led film directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. He approached Elle Fanning for revisions of the female characters' dialogue in order to make it sound more authentic.

The mansion at the end of the film, is the location where they filmed the ending of Scream 3 (2000).

Elle Fanning replaced Carey Mulligan after she dropped out, due to scheduling conflicts. Had she remained, this would have been her second collaboration with Refn after Drive (2011), and her second collaboration with Jena Malone after Pride and Prejudice (2005).

Abbey Lee served as a unofficial advisor for the film, regarding details about the fashion world. Lee gave Refn intel about how an audition for models would play out, down to the things that the casting directors would have on their table. Abbey Lee also taught Elle Fanning how to do a proper catwalk as a professional model would do.

In an interview, Nicolas Winding Refn was told the film felt in a way alien and foreign, to which he responded that the idea of the film was it would eventually become a science fiction movie.

In the nightclub ladies' room scene, Ruby says the shade of lipstick being applied is called Red Rum, a reference to the infamous quote from The Shining (1980).

When Director of Photography Natasha Braier read the script, she didn't really like it, and when meeting with Nicolas Winding Refn, she told him honestly what wasn't working for her. He smiled, and replied, "Oh, you got the fake script".

The speech that Sarno recites in the café when he is talking about having wanted to be an actor, is an excerpt from the "Once more unto the breach" speech from William Shakespeare's "Henry V".

There were issues with casting the part of Dean. A lot of the actors auditioning tried to impersonate Ryan Gosling, and it was not until Gaspar Noé suggested Karl Glusman, that the producers found an actor that worked. Both previously worked on Love (2015), which was Glusman's film debut.

To get the right look for the scene between Jesse and Dean, before the mountain lion appears, Natasha Braier smeared the lens with grease from her own unwashed hair.

The film was originally titled "I Walk With the Dead", and it was said to have Carey Mulligan as the lead.

Nicolas Winding Refn's first film shot in the anamorphic format.

It was rumored the movie would be shot at sixty frames per second. However, Nicolas Winding Refn stated he only shot in sixty frames per second for one slow-motion scene.

There are various references to the work of Stanley Kubrick throughout the film. One of the models mentions a lipstick shade, "Red Rum" (The Shining (1980)), Keanu Reeves' character compares the girl in 214 to Lolita, and several pivotal scenes occur in and around bathrooms, Kubrick's trademark.

Longest feature film directed by Nicolas Winding Refn as of its release.

Ruby's boss was played by the actual mortician who worked at the morgue used as the location.

Amazon Studios acquired the distribution rights to the film in November 2015.

The character of Ruby is based on Alejandro Jodorowsky.

Evan Rachel Wood was the first choice to play Ruby.

Nicolas Winding Refn's second feature film shot in Los Angeles.

Christina Hendricks plays the head of a prestigious modeling agency. Hendricks herself was once a model.

Jena Malone played Lydia Bennet in Pride & Prejudice (2005), while Bella Heathcote played Jane Bennet in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016).

This is the second collaboration between actresses and actor Christina Hendricks, Elle Fanning, and Alessandro Nivola. The first was Ginger & Rosa (2012), where Hendricks, Fanning, and Nivola played mother, daughter, and father.

Feature film debut of Jamie Clayton.

Jena Malone's second time playing a lesbian character in 2016 after appearing in Lovesong (2016).

The first movie for which Elle Fanning recorded a commentary. She is accompanied by Nicolas Winding Refn.

One of two 2016 releases starring both Jena Malone and Karl Glusman, with the other film being Nocturnal Animals (2016).

In the opening and closing credits, the cast is credited in order of appearance.

Nicolas Winding Refn liked the lens flares Natasha Braier created during the party scene so much he has his VFX-crew add even more during post production.

Natasha Braier wanted to shoot on film, but Nicolas Winding Refn vetoed the idea. This was actually one of the very few of Braier's suggestions that he did not use.

Abbey Lee accidentally punched Elle Fanning for real during the fight scene. Because of Fanning's genuine reaction, Nicolas Winding Refn ended up using that take for the final cut.

Refn stated in an interview, that the infamous morgue scene with Ruby and the corpse, was improvised on-set, originally having Ruby only kiss the corpse on the lips, Jena Malone went further and proceeded to molest the corpse.

The scene where Jessie kisses herself in a mirror was improvised by Elle Fanning.

The scene where the women wash off blood in the shower as Ruby lays in a bath tub of Jesse's blood evokes two scenes from the horror film Carrie (1976). The shower evokes the opening where Carrie showers after gym class and gets her period; the bath evokes Carrie washing off the pigs blood after the prom. The slow motion appears to be a further detail in homage to the shower scene from the classic film.

User reviews

Skyway

In a way, this film is a perfect example of form following function. What better way to show how empty and perverse the model scene in Los Angeles is, than to make an empty and perverse movie about it? If Nicolas Winding Refn wanted to make this point, he has made it loud and clear.

But the question is: did he really want to make this point? Or did he just want to take his cinematographic capabilities one step further, by taking the visual aesthetics to the limit, without bothering about the rest? 'The Neon Demon' is visually stunning, but lacks substance. The story about a 16 year old model being literally devoured by the fashion industry, is nothing more than a vehicle for the visual exuberance of the film. It is like a 'Vogue' magazine: there are many pages, but they are all filled with glamorous pictures, and very little text. You can browse through it, but it doesn't have a message, other than an endless display of beauty.

To accentuate the perversion of it all, Winding Refn had added some horror elements, which almost seem ridiculous, especially at the end of the film. There's also an irritating and very prominent soundtrack. The acting is mostly unnatural and pretentious. But if you like browsing the latest edition of Vogue magazine, perhaps this is the film for you.

Nanecele

This film starts promisingly with an eye-catching and unsettling image: then the first dialogue (or should I say "direlogue"?) scene starts, and two things happen. One, the dialogue is awful. Two, the instruction in Acting 101 "Make the most of your pauses" has been translated here into "Leave 5 seconds silence before replying to anything which has been said." The self-consciously clever-dick direction, at its worst, leads to an interminable sequence which is supposed to represent a catwalk show in which nothing happens (and it doesn't happen repetitively, too) for what seems to be half a day. Refn thinks he is being clever in his direction: he isn't.

The first 80% of the story is trite and obvious: the final sequence is ludicrous. Refn again. Perhaps it's supposed to be a metaphor or some sort of metaphysical commentary. It's still ludicrous.

Lesbian necrophilia and cannibalism? I was too busy being bemused (when I wasn't being bored) to be outraged.

If I had been even slightly engaged, I would have been left with a bagful of unanswered questions afterwards. As it was, I didn't care enough to be bothered, although I will chuck one out, just for fun - what was the point of the mountain lion in the motel room? What did that add to the narrative? As expected, the Refn Fan Club is full of the usual "If You Didn't Understand This Parable Of Modern Existentialism It's Because You're Too Thick" nonsense, to which I reply Emperor's New Clothes.

If you don't see just one film this year, please make it this one.

It's a stinker. And a boring, tedious stinker at that.

Voodoosida

I wouldn't really recommend The Neon Demon unconditionally to my friends; not because it's a bad film (quite the opposite) but because it's the kind of movie that would inevitably lead some of them to think "he told me to watch it and said it was great. What kind of freak could possibly like that kind of stuff?"

To call it "not for all tastes" is the understatement of the year, since the majority of audiences probably won't really appreciate its very droll mix of violence, cannibalism, dark comedy, necrophilia and fetishism. In fact, I will be very surprised if there isn't any condemnation or manifestation of outrage from groups or individuals arguing that it's yet another shallow male-directed film that objectifies, stereotypes and vilifies women. I'd also be willing to bet that Nicolas Winding Refn, who, like his fellow countryman Lars Von Trier, has a reputation for being a provocateur par excellence, had exactly this type of reaction in mind when he made it. There is a semi-gratuitous maybe-it's-a-dream sequence where a female character is forced to fellate a knife blade that seems designed precisely to elicit that sort of response.

Deliberate excesses aside, The Neon Demon is possibly Nicolas Winding Refn's most straightforward narrative in a while (certainly more linear than Only God Forgives or Bronson). The film follows Jesse (Elle Fanning), a 16-year-old ingenue who moves to L.A. (or, to be exact, to a seedy motel in Pasadena, run by a sleazy and sinister manager played by a cast-against-type Keanu Reeves) hoping to become a model. Her naïveté and awkwardness notwithstanding, she first catches the eye of a powerful model agency head (Christina Hendrickson), then an influential photographer (Desmond Harrington) and finally a big fashion designer (Alessandro Nivola) who casts her as the centerpiece of his new show, much to the chagrin of established models Sarah (Abby Lee) and Gigi (Bella Heathcote), who don't take kindly to being laid by the wayside to make room for a fresh new face.

She is also befriended by Ruby (Jena Malone), a seemingly well- meaning fashion make-up artist who moonlights at the local mortuary by applying her skills to make cadavers more presentable, and by an impossibly nice young man named Dean (Karl Glusman) who would like to be Jesse's boyfriend and protector. This being a horror film, at least on the surface, things starts to get weird for Jesse when her new friend and rivals decide to do something about her rapid ascent to the rank of top model. To say more would stray into spoiler territory, so I'll stop here.

Like Quentin Tarantino, Nicolas Winding Refn is a master regurgitator of old genre films. "Drive" was the bastard son of Michael Mann's "Thief" and Walter Hill's "Driver", with a few other ingredients tossed in for good measure (the film also owed a huge debt to Jean-Pierre Melville's "Le Samourai"). "The Neon Demon" is his love song to Dario Argento (in particular "Suspiria", which is visually and thematically referenced multiple times) and to countless Euro-thrillers from the seventies, starting with the fantastic but little-seen (in the USA) Belgian lesbian vampire/Countess Bathory retelling "Daughters of Darkness".

Punctuated by a great electronic score by Cliff Martinez (which sounds like the best soundtrack that Goblin never wrote in the last 20 years), The Neon Demon is a visual feast that makes the neon- drenched "Drive" and "Only God Forgives" look almost drab by comparison. This is a gorgeous-looking film, set in beautiful locations, with a cast to match.

The women are all impossibly beautiful and incredibly shallow and repellent at the same time: they look and move like poisonous snakes whose skin you would really like to reach out and caress, knowing full well that you are likely to receive a painful bite. Male characters on the other hand are almost uniformly visually unpleasant and slimy or feral-looking (Desmond Harrington's photographer in particular looks gaunt and menacing like a wolf circling a wounded animal). Only Dean, the prospective boyfriend, seems like a good, decent human being, but this is a movie that seems hell-bent on confirming the old adage that "nice guys finish last".

Elle Fanning is good, especially at the beginning of the film where she is required to look shy and insecure -- in fact there are no weaklings in the whole cast. But the film belongs to Jena Malone, whose character undergoes the most startling transformation as the story progresses. Her performance is truly daring and committed and easily the most memorable in a film filled with weird and eye- catching characters. When you see the film, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Although The Neon Demon is ostensibly a horror film, underneath all the scary movie trappings lies a very black (and bleak) comedy about a superficial world where appearances are everything and the only way to survive is to embrace (quite literally) a dog-eat-dog attitude. It's most definitely not a movie for everyone (and the only film in recent memory where a scene involving an act of lesbian necrophilia doesn't feel gratuitous and out of place), but it's the product of a talented director who has completed a metamorphosis, which began with Bronson (2009), from "simple" genre filmmaker into full- blown auteur, with a personal and distinctive visual and narrative style. If you are at all interested in cinema beyond regular multiplex fare, it's definitely worth investing 2 hours of your time.

Dugor

It seems that, after the massive success of Drive, Refn is being given the opportunity to make the films he wants to make and take a lot of creative license.

I think this is a good thing, and it's a smart way to go about a career in any creative industry. Achieve mainstream success doing things that are commercially viable, and when you have people's attention and trust, you can do something more abstract and creative and people will actually go see it with an open mind, and quite possibly love it.

Another example of this is a band like Radiohead, they put out "Creep" which is a perfect radio single, and when that got them famous, they went and made albums that would never have been produced or listened to if they had done them straight away.

This is a cool movie. It's not for everyone. The editing, camera work, framing, pace, screenplay, lighting, production design, wardrobe... all the creative elements of this film have a modern, stylistic feel that seems ahead of it's time. It's the type of movie you may want to tell all your friends is your "favorite" even if it's not, just to make yourself look cool (haha.. sad but true)

The plot is very abstract, and contains a lot of elements of surrealism. Refn reminds me of film-makers like David Lynch or Terry Gilliam or even Salvador Dali. I like that he took a risk and really went with his vision to make a film that could never have mainstream appeal. It is a piece of art, and left open to interpretation. The whole thing may be a dream, or an alternate reality, or some combination of these with real life.

The production design and framing and editing made me feel things and think things and imagine things. It seemed to be trying to take me on a journey through space and time while telling an intoxicating story that was an allusion to the real world.

It helps to be in the right state both mentally and physically for a movie like this. It's the type of movie you want to watch in a very dark room, on a very comfortable couch, with a big screen and a great surround sound system. Then you can prepare to get lost in the film and experience it as a whole, instead of just watching it.

I definitely can't watch movies like this everyday, and while it is a great exercise in expanding your mind, being creative, and thinking abstract thoughts, it may seem boring on the wrong day.

A cool thing about movies like this, is the re-watch-ability of them. Most movies are best the first time you see them, and don't offer much for a repeated viewing. This is the type of movie that can be watched many times. The experience will be different each time and you may notice or realize things you didn't see the first time.

It reminds me of David Lynch and his movie "Mulholland Drive." I really love that movie and it is similar in the way that people love it or hate it. With "Mulholland Drive," I watched it many times, and grew to understand it on my own terms, which was a fun journey.

I do hope that Reft doesn't decide to continue making movies that are always this abstract. Often times, I watch movies with a great plot, that are very entertaining films, but wish the director and cinematographer had been more creative with the lighting and camera work. Seeing his style and eye applied to mainstream blockbusters and thrillers would be really cool in my opinion, but I doubt he will ever go too far into directing movies with a typical "Hollywood" script. After the success of "Mulholland Drive," Lynch continued to make exclusively dreamy, abstract movies, and while I respected that, it just didn't seem necessary.

Go check this movie out with an open mind on a night when you are relaxed and feeling good. Maybe watch it with some friends and have a good conversation afterward sharing thoughts and interpretations; I'm sure they will vary radically. You might love it, and you might hate it, but I think most people will respect the artistry of the film and have trouble forgetting it anytime soon.

Folsa

Nicolas Winding-Refn is a director who defies all analysis. Most considered him a surefire "Commercial Success" following on from his exceptional adaptation, Drive back in 2011. However, against all odds Winding-Refn went darker, more subversive and all together more polarising with his 2013 release Only God Forgives.

The Neon Demon is sure to be equally divisive. I was lucky enough to attend the red carpet premiere of the film in Cannes and was personally blown away by it's unique style & vision. It's long slider shots demand attention and draw attention to every minute detail on offer. It's use of mirrors encourages the viewer to look beyond the "real" world and examine what lies on the other side.

Obviously, it goes without saying that this film looks amazing. If nothing else, most of Winding-Refn's supporters or critiques will admit that his films aesthetics are always incredible. However, despite the muted dialogues and slow pacing, the film gripped me for its full 110 minute run time. This was because, although the movie is a "horror", it's so much more. It's an examination of the human obsession with beauty.

Elle Fanning does a remarkable turn as Jesse - a young runaway, trying to make it big in Los Angeles. Her beauty is so powerful that things begin to work to her favour almost immediately on her arrival. More over than that, her beauty seems to encapsulate and draw in those around her, while repelling her peers who scathe her. Her natural beauty is something that all the plastic surgery in LA can't generate.

Jena Malone steals the film as Ruby - a make up artist who befriends Jesse as soon as she arrives in the town. She also introduces Jesse to the vacuous and vindictive pair of models played by Bella Heathcote and Abbey Lee. If you haven't guessed already this is a film with a real focus on females. Although there are a handful of male characters (Dexters Desmon Harrington does an incredible turn as a high power fashion photographer), the focus here is all feminine. Even down to the decision to bring in a female DOP to shoot the film.

There are too many twists and turns to get into here, but all I can say is that this could be Winding-Refn's most powerful movie to date. It's an analysis on the human condition and our obsession with natural beauty. It claws and scratches at our preconceptions and breaks us down, revealing the gooey centre; what makes us tick. Stellar performances, amazing visuals, a banging score and a unique storyline will cement this as a cult classic - of this I am sure.

I cannot wait for the theatrical release if only to have more time to soak in the films dreamy visuals, take in more of the films subtexts and once again be blown away by the force of nature that is NWR.

crazy mashine

I cannot understand all the hatred for this movie. Nicolas Winding Refn bounces back from Only God Forgives with this dark, twisted and nightmarish horror film about a young model in Los Angeles who attracts fascination and unwanted attention from the modelling industry and her fellow models. Admittedly, it's only a good movie on a story level. The plot is relatively thin and the characters are underdeveloped. As a piece of art it's an utter knockout. Every single frame is a painting and every image advances the story forward and creates new meaning. This isn't a narrative film. It's a film to experience and to be amazed by. This is a rare movie where being style-over-substance is brilliant because the style is the substance. The artistic mastery on display here takes you on a roller coaster ride of emotions. This movie will have you feeling joyous one moment and terrified the next. The soundtrack is absolutely flawless as well. Elle Fanning is great and all the actors do a good job with their limited dialogue. Even Keanu Reeves is decent in this movie. A flawed masterpiece, The Neon Demon is a mesmerizing, hypnotic and mind-blowing cinematic nightmare that stands high above most of 2016's other films, even though quite a lot of people disliked it.

9/10

Malak

I have enjoyed most of the Nicolas Winding Refn films I've seen. I love both Bronson and Drive. I tried to like Only God Forgives, but couldn't. I came into The Neon Demon with neutral expectations. I walked out of the end credits disgusted with myself for not having left sooner.

The Neon Demon is vapid, soulless trash. It is despicable drivel. It is irresponsible. It is made without a sense of accountability to taste or reason. It is a bafflingly inept attempt at surrealism, where caricatures are passed off as characters, and bright, pretty lights and colors as compelling imagery. The potentially interesting (if trite) theme of the moral and emotional emptiness of the modeling industry is presented in a laughably inane way, as if it were a fresh, vital artistic insight.

If Only God Forgives was nudging audience members in the ribs a bit too hard, The Neon Demon kicks us in the groin. Repeatedly.

This is true both in the film's style and content. I'm a firm believer that any subject can be dealt with in a film. There is a line of decency and human concern that is usually difficult to discern, and is obviously highly subjective. Shocking scenes will often polarize viewers, and, usually, there are legitimate points to be made on either side. Neon demon goes miles over that line. There is no defense for a scene where over the course of what I would estimate to be a couple minutes of screen time, a woman molests a female corpse. The audience sees and hears almost everything. I won't go into further detail. Unfortunately, Refn did. If this weren't bad enough, this footage is intercut with an abstract representation of the woman's fantasy about an underage girl who earlier rejected the woman's advances. The girl is 16 in the film, and Elle Fanning was either 16 or 17 at the time of filming.

I don't consider myself a prude when it comes to dark topics in film. As I said, I firmly believe there are tasteful (or at least acceptable) ways to handle any issue through the medium of film. An example of a film which is uncompromising in depicting evil and yet doesn't cross the line is The Silence of the Lambs. However awful the acts of Hannibal or Buffalo Bill are in that movie, the film is made from a place of heart, of empathy for the victims, a place of humaneness. It doesn't revel in the crimes of its villains. We are meant to be sickened by them. When Hannibal clobbers a policeman (nearly?) to death, the director is very selective in what we see, focusing in on Lecter's demonic glee. It's a thrilling, gut wrenching scene. In Neon Demon's necrophilia scene, everything is fair game. A large part of the reason this scene is so reprehensible to me is that it seems almost as if it's meant to be titillating.

I wonder: How would this film have been received if the necrophile were a man molesting a female corpse?

It's disheartening to me that a small minority of people seeing this film actually like it. I can't help but think (and hope?) that they're simply fooling themselves, that their affection for Refn's previous, far superior films is being unduly extended over this one. As with Only God Forgives, perhaps the cinematography is distracting enough for them to forgive its fundamental storytelling flaws.

But even though I found The Neon Demon intermittently nice to look at, and in spite of my adoration for the genius of Drive and Bronson, I hate this film. Even if I was to pretend there was no sickeningly indulgent necrophilia scene, or other lingering, exploitative shots which directly contradict the premise that the film is an indictment of the male gaze, I would still hate this film, simply because it is so bad.

from earth

So I guess female vanity is some kind of dark magic and you see the innocent virgin attracted to its glowing allure. As she is drawn into it she meets a coven of witches: a passover, a wannabe and a sorceress supreme, who all covet what she has. The passover wants to kill her, the wannabe is jealous of her and the sorceress supreme who occasionally turns into a wildcat attempts to seduce her, but, awake to the power within her, the innocent virgin instead opens herself to her destiny as the vessel of 'The Neon Demon'. The coven then kills her and eats her flesh to gain for themselves the powers of 'The Neon Demon'. Which is female vanity or the male gaze or some nebulous cloud of similar tropes referenced in terms of fashion modelling.

The bad laughs and eye-rolling material comes on early where our innocent virgin hits all those on-the-nose beats about falling from innocence in the big city. Speaking of 'beats', long expanses of the film seem like the cinematography was only there to provide a light show behind Carpenter-esque synth jamming. An example of this was a heavily abstracted scene where our innocent virgin is finally possessed by 'The Neon Demon'. I guess 'abstract' is the word for it. 'Stoner planetarium laser show' would also suffice. Within the narrative continuity, this possession is meant to have occurred when the innocent virgin is given the star slot in a famous designer's runway show. One is left with the suspicion that the filmmakers couldn't actually show this happen in the context of an actual runway show because they didn't have a clear idea of the reality of a runway show. The scenes bookending the sequence feature some of the most self-serious and unintentionally silly dialogue in the film.

After her possession, the film takes a steep dive into very silly territory. Our innocent virgin is presumably transformed now that she has accepted 'Teh Power', but Elle Fanning has none of the startling aesthetic presence attributed to her character either before or after. We're just meant to recognize her unique and startling attractiveness because it's written into the dialogue. By the foot of the second act, audience credulity on this point is strained.

There's a scene of the sorceress making out with a corpse, a ten minute sequence of the witches washing the innocent virgin's blood off their bodies in slo-mo under blue light while the sorceress, also covered in blood and glitter, gazes on and one of the witches heaves for ten minutes, in another ten-minute sequence of a character doing one thing, before throwing up an eyeball. There's more goofy stuff after that. There are a lot of party-bulb and blacklight shots which go on for way to long. A lot of bad dialogue. It's not a good movie.

Brick my own

I loved the movie Drive. This is not Drive. Here's why:

1. This movie is visually very weak. Don't get me wrong, I understand this aesthetic. But that is because it is totally played out. I heard NWR say that he got the idea for Only God Forgives from the mental image of a clenched fist. I would say for this one he got the idea from old Maybelline commercials, the 2006 Daft Punk alive tour and some old Mert & Marcus editorials. It looks cheap, dated and badly executed. The soundtrack is the same. It worked for Drive because that electro revival of Moroder in 2001 is the perfect driving music, but now it just feels tacky. Save your money and just walk into any Sephora store.

2. This movie is not "crazy" or "dark". Every "surreal" moment is predictable and cliché. Watch Un Chien Andalou and then got to Burning Man festival and you'll have all the inspiration you will need for a sequel. Claire Denis' Trouble Every Day makes use of the same clichés but the difference is that NWR thinks he is the first one to think of them.

3. This movie is not a "critique". This doesn't reveal the truth of anything except a made- up idea of the fashion world. Who told NWR that modeling make-up always involves putting a bunch of junk on the girls faces? Who told him that the center of the modeling world is LA and not New York? That Elle Fanning, who is short and pudgy, is somehow meant to be believable as a more desirable model than Abbey Lee Kershaw? If she is so good why does the camera cut away every time she is meant to strike a pose or walk a catwalk? Abbey Lee says at one point that by the time you are 20 your past your expiry date. She is 29 and had a major Calvin Klein campaign earlier this year.

4. The story sucks (because NWR "wrote" it, unlike Drive). The story is basically Black Swan. Think pseudo-lesbian jealousy corrupting a young hopeful in a competitive industry. But then add a few dozen plot holes. This girl is the modeling worlds' new It Girl and yet she can't afford a motel that isn't rape-infested? Or ever go to a hospital? You can successfully bury a girl in a six inch grave in a perfectly manicured garden in a house that isn't yours? And why are there only about 6 people in the whole movie? Parties, nightclub toilets, restaurants photo shoots and the backstage of runway shows usually have dozens of people around, not three. Especially not the same three every time.

The acting is pretty lousy but who cares at this point. I'm sure most fans will think that dislike for this film comes from its dark, confronting, disturbing portrayal of our superficial society. It doesn't. It comes from wanting to watch something other than an old loser jerk himself off for 2 hours to a 2001 copy of Vogue magazine.

Giamah

As a viewer who has enjoyed a handful of Nicolas Winding Refn's works like Drive, Bronson, Valhalla Rising, and even Only God Forgives – which I defended wholeheartedly in a 2013 Amazon review – it pains me a little to kick off my review with the following statement: It is difficult to decide what I dislike most about Nicolas Winding Refn's The Neon Demon. Critics giving Demon positive reviews and arguing that its monomaniacal focus on style is intentionally on par with the film's message are missing the reality that NWR's creative juices are simply dried up at the moment.

So what is the least admirable trait of Refn's latest? Is it the paucity original thought? The onslaught of the routinely neon- drenched Kubrickian imagery? The fact that a good sixth of the movie feels like the director got away with making fetish porn with an Amazon Studios (and about a half dozen other production companies) budget? I'm not even going to start in on the film's literal blood baths, but I think that the lack of originality is probably the worst part.

Audiences have already seen everything that The Neon Demon has to offer. Cinematically speaking, there is nothing more than the usual slew of rehashed Kubrick frames (including a groan-worthy Shining shout out within the first few minutes). Aside from a memorable strobe- light inspired scene of a performance at a model- populated L.A. party, Refn adds nothing new to his aesthetic arsenal that he has not already splashed on the screen with his previous four films.

From a narrative standpoint, one should not expect a fully-formed, fleshed out story or characters. These are not Refn's preoccupations when making a movie, and there's nothing inherently wrong with that. That is, if the film's style and themes can compensate. Stylistically (see paragraph above), it does not hold any substantial weight. Unfortunately, there is even more of a thematic drought.

At one point in the film, the increasingly narcissistic protagonist Jesse (Elle Fanning) says that other girls will cut, carve, inject, and do anything else to their own bodies just so that they can look like a second- rate version of her. The girl from the small town who seemed so nice starts becoming a bit conceited by her time in the fashion industry. Can you believe it? Imagine that! Wow, what is the director trying to say about fashion? Hollywood? The male gaze? SOCIETY?

If there is one thing that 2106 films like The Neon Demon and Zoolander 2 should be teaching would-be blockbuster directors and art-house auteurs alike, it is that the fashion industry has become one of the stalest targets for satire in any artistic medium or genre. It's not that superficiality doesn't deserve it, but at this point if a writer or a director has nothing original to say about it, then they should not be saying anything all.

To be fair, the trite and shiny cloud of unoriginality that is The Neon Demon does have its silver linings. I have never felt so badly for a film score than I do for Cliff Martinez's excellent work on this soundtrack. While the message of the movie will blend in with the mental smoothie of other Hollywood/superficiality parable flicks, I will not easily be able to excise Martinez's thumping synths from my ears. I will also never forget the intensity of Abbey Lee's stares.

There are also less silvery scenes involving Jena Malone taking the tired psycho lesbian trope to whole new level and an absurdly Nicolas Cage-esque Keanu Reeves as an acrimonious motel manager that I will not forget for other reasons (primarily the random shock-less "shock value" senselessness of them). I wish I could recommend The Neon Demon as a startlingly original work from a gifted auteur, but it feels like Refn simply isn't challenging himself or the audience in any meaningful way. Here's hoping that this kind of trite and shiny would-be shock fest will not be the only thing that Refn has to offer cinema in the future.

Manesenci

The sixteen year-old aspiring model Jesse (Elle Fanning) arrives in Los Angeles expecting to be a successful model. The aspirant photographer Dean (Karl Glusman) takes photos for her portfolio and dates her. Jesse befriends the lesbian makeup artist Ruby (Jena Malone) and then the envious models Gigi (Bella Heathcote) and Sarah (Abbey Lee) in a party. Meanwhile the agency considers Jesse beautiful with a "thing" that makes her different and she is sent to the professional photographer Jack (Desmond Harrington). Jesse attracts the attention of the industry and has a successful beginning of career. But Ruby, Gigi and Sarah are capable to do anything to get her "thing".

"The Neon Demon" is another overrated and boring film by Nicolas Winding Refn. This filmmaker is specialist in making shallow films with beautiful cinematography. The long and annoying "The Neon Demon" is no exception. The storyline is "naive aspiring model goes to LA and is devoured by the system" is disclosed along 1h 58 minutes running time. Elle Fanning is not a beautiful teenager to justify the hype from the industry; therefore her character has "a thing" to explain her success for simple mortals like most of the viewers. The most impressive are the positive reviews and the conclusion might be the following: Nicolas Winding Refn is a darling of the cinema industry; or Nicolas Winding Refn has a strong team of people to write positive and overrated reviews of his films in IMDb. The fake horror genre misleads the viewers and fans of the genre. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Demônio de Neon" ("Neon Demon")

OCARO

I loved this movie, it was both captivating and visually stunning, the story focuses around Jesse who moves to Los Angeles just after her 16th birthday to launch a career as a model. The head of her agency tells the innocent teen that she has the qualities to become a top star. Jesse soon faces the wrath of ruthless vixens who despise her fresh- faced beauty. On top of that, she must contend with a seedy motel manager and a creepy photographer. As Jesse starts to take the fashion world by storm, her personality changes in ways that could help her against her cut-throat rivals.

This movie was original and beautiful, Elle Fanning's performance was brilliant but the person who stood out to me the most was Jena Malone, she was both sexy and mysterious and this is definitely a career highlight. 'The Neon Demon' will be a classic in the future and is simply fantastic.

JOIN

Its no secret that Refn makes extremely violent movies (like a broad numbers of other directors) - But in his first one, Pusher (which was outstanding), made over two decades ago, you could certainly defend that violent approach due to the great story being told.

However in The Neon Demon Refn seems to loose his ground dwelling into explicit violence and leaving out any reasonable reason why (I am sure he will disagree). The movie is simply without any substance and the story lacks a reasonable meaning - it comes out empty as a shell in my humble view.

Once before Refn tried to copy master David Lynch half psychotic/half sane universe (Twin Peaks, Lost Highway) when he made Fear X and Only God Forgives, but in my opinion Refn simply does not have the talent for this type of genre which The Neon Demon so obviously demonstrates.

It is not that Refn cant make movies. He has made af number of strong movies like Pusher, Bronson and the international Box office succes Drive. But with The Neon Demon it just seems like Refn is more fascinated with violence and trying to be someone he is so clearly not.

Weiehan

I will preface this by saying that if you haven't seen any other Refn movies, like "Drive" or "Only God Forgives," then you should see those first to see what you're getting into. I thoroughly loved this film, and will stand by in saying that it's an incredible movie. However, if you can't get through Refn's other works, or didn't really "get" them, then it won't deliver the same payoff that I received. To clarify, I'm not saying that if you hate this movie then you "just don't get it." But, seek out other Refn works first to see if you'll like something like this.

This is an incredibly cerebral experience. It's is a lot of silent and dialogue free moments where you take in the world the movie cultivates. The cinematography, like in all of Refn's movies, is simply stunning. The colors craft the tone of the movie so effectively it tells a whole story with just itself; it almost is another character. Every shot feels expertly crafted, well put together, like a painting. No time in this 2 hour movie ever feels that wasted. Every shot feels necessary, every frame is splendid.

The acting is also on point. Elle Fanning is perfectly cast as the main girl in this film. Her innocence, her shyness, her entire persona is conveyed very effectively. Many of the side characters also fit their character well. Keanu Reeves fit his character well, along with Abbey Lee. But Jena Malone stood out especially to me. The mannerisms of her character, the subtleties, the way she talked was fantastic. Without spoiling anything, a certain scene in this movie with Malone contains so much passion and emotion that I was completely blown away. She, along with Fanning, were my favorite parts of this.

I would recommend this movie wholeheartedly, even knowing that it's really not for everyone. It's beyond strange and weird, and is a lot more visual storytelling than a solid narrative. It still has a story, nonetheless. If you're into that, then this may be for you, and you be able to get into it. If you're not, or are skeptical, then you will be disappointed. Nonetheless, I standby in saying this is a great film, and that there ought to be something in it you can enjoy.

It's weird, it's strange, it's unique, it's f*cked-up, but it's also fantastic.

9/10

Landamath

I was very anxious to see this film and I had high hopes for this one. I'm so disappointed and kind of angry too. Yes - The cinematography is stunning but it is not enough to save this mess. I know so many fans are all about "some people don't get it, some people can't understand its real beauty and meaning..." - sorry, but this is NOT a good film. It could have been great, the idea of it is actually good, but very bad executed.

There are so many unanswered questions, there are scenes that makes us think they are supposed to mean something and they are going to have a sort of explanation, but ended not meaning anything. Also, the beginning of the film and the trailer makes you think that the main character, Jesse, has a dark side or a secret, something evil, but she only has the "special beauty and glow" that makes other models envy her in a very weird way. Jesse does not have her parents and she has some kind of weird dreams or visions, which makes us think she is more than just a pretty face, but those aspects were not developed or made any difference in the story.

The feeling I had after watching The Neon Demon was that they started to write a plot that was supposed to go one way, but then got too lazy to keep up and develop the idea, so just decided to add some "chocking"aspects like necrophilia and cannibalism to try to save it.

If you want a good horror movie about how far someone can go for fame and beauty, watch Starry Eyes (2014), is not as glamorous and so visually beautiful, but delivers the message and has a better plot, besides, it's real horror.

Visonima

I do not mind a dark movie if it has a real plot and substance. This movie started off interesting, although there were some scenes with major flaws. However, it then turned into an extremely strange and disturbing film. It was as though the writer(s) hit writer's block and just decided to write sick scenes and put them altogether for merely shock value to keep the audience's attention until the end. The only thing good were some visuals.... Except for the disturbing scenes. The acting was okay. The reactions the actors had to certain occurrences were so unrealistic. It was laughable. I am so sad I spent money to see this movie. I wouldn't have even watched if it was for free.

Lanin

I'm not sure how this has an average rating of 6 stars. There's basically no dialogue, no rhyme or reason to any of the characters or plot, terrible acting, no emotions, no action, no anything.

The main character is the least attractive character in the movie, which makes the story even less believable.

There are several scenes in the movie which were there strictly for awe value, and did not contribute anything to the actual plot.

The whole thing is just boring and awkward, and I want these 2 hours of my life back.

Maridor

Short and Simple Review by WubsTheFadger

Word of Warning: The Neon Demon has a very complex story that contains a lot of symbolism. At first this film might be hard to follow and understand. I would recommend watching it and then look up an explanation guide on YouTube. The film gets extremely dark, gory, sexual, and plain out weird towards the end.

With all that said, the story is extremely dark. The film holds a very eerie and surreal tone. Like I said before, the story is very complex, confusing, and difficult to understand. After a second viewing, I understood mostly everything but still looked up an explanation guide to further clarify.

The acting at times can seem inconsistent. Especially in the case Elle Fanning's character Jesse. But the inconsistency is there for a reason. Without spoiling anything, her personality changes when she comes to terms with her true beauty. Keanu Reeves delivers the weakest performance. His character is very dry and has no depth.

The amount of symbolism throughout the film is astounding. The two main symbols to look out for are beauty and the triangle.

The film is slightly overlong. The film itself is about two hours, but could have been about an hour and a half.

The film has a perfect blend of nudity and violence. All of the scenes that involved nudity or violence were there for a reason in order to further the symbolism and depth of the characters.

Pros: Complex and dark story, consistent tone, good acting, perfect blend of nudity and violence, and a great use of symbolism

Cons: Keanu Reeves' dry performance, can be a difficult story to follow, and an overly long runtime

Overall Rating: 7.4/10

P.S. Nicolas Winding Refn's most notable films are Drive (2011) and Bronson (2008) which I would highly recommend. Also, if you really enjoyed The Neon Demon you might also enjoy Only God Forgives (2013) which was also created by Refn.

Xmatarryto

I have no one to blame but myself for wasting two hours of my life after I found out this was directed by the slowest, style-over-substance and shitty Nicolas Winding Refn.

His kind of movies move at a snail's pace and it's no wonder since there are about 2 pages of actual story in his "screenplays." I understand he's one of those love him/hate him kinds of "filmmakers," like Terrence Malick and I definitely fall in the latter halffor both.

I don't mind a slow-burner so much, as long as there's something behind the scenes. Something to build upon, some sense of reality, someone to root for.

Here we have incredibly terrible people – all of them, doing incredibly blasphemous stuff for, I'm guessing, the sake of art? Get ready for it (and yeah, this is spoiler-territory, but I have a feeling you'll thank me instead of criticizing me): here, in the meek "script," you'll be served up necrophilia, cannibalism and an unhealthy amount of pedophilia.

A pretty girl – not gorgeous, not a supermodel and not goddess-like as they constantly tell us, is getting her immediate break in the L.A. fashion industry. Others are jealous. She seems innocent, but lives up to the movie's title. Oh, and she's 16, but that's okay for all the adults wanting to seduce, kiss, see her naked and make love to her.

Really, that, plus a bunch of random artistic and nail-biting deliberate scenes make up the rest of the incredible two-hour run time.

What makes a Nicolas Winding Refn "experience" so frustrating, is that it's so pompous. It's like being in an art gallery and telling your friend you don't like the train wreck painting you're trying to look away from. Immediately, your friend's clichéd response is "Well, you just don't get it! It's aaaaarrrrrrt!"

Well, I do get it. I got the whole movie. It just felt as hollow as the characters they're portraying. And funny enough, it's labelled as a "horror." Not really. I mean, horrible stuff happens, but it's like watching the downward spiral of the U.S. thanks to the political season we're currently in and calling that "horror" as well.

OK, fine. It did remind me a bit of Suspiria in mood and ugly women doing bad things, but without witchcraft. Oh, and sure, you might find them attractive here, but they are so wooden, one-dimensional and horrible individuals, they are absolutely ugly to me. Not to mention, they all look so similar, it was increasingly hard to tell who was who, including our "heroine."

I imagine if you liked his other slow-ass films, you'd be one of those "But, it's aaaaarrrrrrt!" people and like this. Fine. To each their own. I just appreciate cinema that's not just a 2-hour screensaver.

***

Final thoughts: Drive wasn't terrible, but Only God Forgives and this crap was. I just can't take anymore NWR. Mercifully, this one didn't star NWR (I'm tired of writing his self-important name out) regular and highly arrogant partner, Ryan Gosling. Definitely no room in here for him, but I doubt even he and his big head could save this travesty.

Nikok

I pondered giving this movie a 2 but then I realized that there was no reason. A 2 in my my seemed to believe that this movie had a redeeming quality, it doesn't. While the title to my review sounds like it could be interesting, don't be fooled, even the art isn't worth seeing. The transitions are poor and create a choppy film, each scene lasts 5 minutes too long because it's all about the artistic flair and the art is abstract at best. The soundtrack is even as pretentious as the artistic flair of the movie. No redeeming qualities. The acting is absolutely terrible. The main characters boyfriend literally just stares and delivers a couple line, then stares more. He looks like an absolute creep at the best of times, but that's something that really plagues this whole movie. Someone speaks and then it's like they want to capture every angle of it'll leaving us with a 30 second shot of 2 words. You sit and stare and wonder if it will ever change because dear god this isn't how dialogue works and then it cuts to another scene that has nothing to do with it. While I'm sure that there is some deeper meaning behind the movie, I'm not willing to suffer through it again in hopes that I can rip it from the movie. Any meaning, is so far hidden underneath a gilded scene that it exhausts you hoping that what you're watching is actually about something. I was rather excited that the movie would be tastefully non-nude as it seemed like this could be the type of movie that quickly turns into a porno. While half the movie persisted with it's pleasant non-nude view, it quickly changed with the necrophilia scene and just goes down hill. I don't need to watch two girls showering in blood over and over for 5 minutes. Once again, another "Artistic" design, taking double, triple, quadruple the time trying to create a uselessly artistic shot. This film, in all honesty, is just garbage. It has no vision outside of someone screaming "ART!" at everyone involved. The dialogue is unnatural and delivered by uninspired actors. Nothing moves along at any sort of pace and whenever it changes scenes it uses terrible cuts and you may not even see the wrap up of the last scene. Save your time, it looks like it may be cool, but it's not. It's a movie that leaves you sitting there wondering what the hell you're watching. If you manage to make it to the end, all you feel is regret.

Funky

The Neon Demon is yet another original effort and polarizing film from Nicolas Winding Refn. It was already both booed and applauded at Cannes, and this reaction is one I expect to play out when it gets its wide release.

The film draws the viewer in with it's dazzling lighting and visuals, which remain throughout, but also with the mysteries it creates. The mystery of the film results in a compelling narrative, but the last half fails to capitalize on some of the themes and ideas it introduces. However, the main 1-2 ideas are well-developed and relevant. I won't spoil those ideas here, though.

Another positive about the film is the soundtrack composed by Cliff Martinez, which is no surprise given the work he and NWR have done together in the past.

While the soundtrack and visuals are certainly memorable, and the major themes are ones which I commend NWR for developing, my main gripe with the film is its over-indulgent nature. NWR has a fixation on violence and gratuity, and in the past I've had few problems with it, but in this film I felt it was taken too far. Things that other filmmakers would have implied with cues, Winding Refn shows us in great detail. Some will praise him for his willingness to show us what we don't want to see, others will condemn him. I just found most of these scenes to be unnecessarily over the top.

Despite my comparing it to films such as Mulholland Drive and Suspiria, it doesn't feel derivative, but instead like a mostly original experience.

On the whole I'd call The Neon Demon a very good film. It's much different from most of the releases so far this year, which alone makes it worth seeing. However, I would not recommend it to the faint of heart, or those with a general disdain for gore in film.

Like most other divisive films, I expect that this one will be a subject of conversation for years to come.

7/10

Hidden Winter

Sometimes you need a little bit more than beautiful visuals. The film does indeed look great, with a superb soundtrack as well. The lighting and use of colour is very NWR.

The opening scenes are good but It never really gets going. Its a very slow burn. With a lead character who barely raises a smile, has zero personality, zero charisma but apparently she has it all. She displays no emotion at all. She basically walks around pouting and asking stupid dumb questions like is this your house? Erh, you dim wit, I'm in my 20's, this is mansion worth millions!

I was at the London Q&A tonight. There was so much I wanted to say but I bottled it.

NWR is a pompous man, who I quote said 'All men want to be a 16 year old girl' Erh, do they? He's full of shite, the fashion world suits him fine

Thats 3 crap films this year from 3 of my fav directors. Love, Knight of Cups & now this. Not 6+ for any of them

This should have been used for a music video and not a feature film. Its not interesting enough and there's not enough emotion.

Goltigor

And it is a beautiful piece of art work, just like a painting moving.

Think we have to give a lot of credit to The Director of Photography for her stunning work adding to the film's beauty and intensity.

I went to see this movie because I'm a huge fan of the director's previous film, Drive, but now I'm beginning to see that Drive may have been a fluke, a one time thing. Especially after seeing his follow up film, Only God Forgives, which like this movie, all his movies as a matter of fact, were shot with such style and beauty.

The Neon Demon started off slow for me and I was thinking it was going to leave me dissatisfied like Only God Forgives , but that's not what happen. The confusion of the right turn this movie makes made it worth the watch. Truly like a piece of art, the overall product touched me and became very indulging.

Elle Fanning leads a well done cast of character performances, even Keanu Reaves was great. I think this is Elle's first adult role playing an underage model struggling to make it in LA. The movie explores possibly the best and worse case scenario of what could happen to a young girl alone in that city.

Definitely a great movie to watch. It's not Drive, but loved it far better than Only God Forgives.

Hilarious Kangaroo

The Neon Demon seems to be an unsuccessful attempt to animate the daring, scary and high-fashion photography of Helmut Newton from the 1980s. It seems to me that director Nicholas Winding Refn (who has the nerve to leave his monogram NWR throughout the opening and closing credits as though this film was his tribute to himself and his imaginary smoking jacket), fails miserably to enter the over-the-top, sexually tinged world of slick editorial and advertising fashion mags without a clue to its real inner workings or long-standing history and innovation. Just take a look at a Vogue from 40 years ago and you'll see more provocative images--women in bondage, strapped with saddles, sporting sleek prosthetic legs and arms--all the while in stiletto heels and designer clothes. That era, in a gorgeous, and highly controversial manner, broke all the rules in the fashion world. There's been no one like Newton before or since. Certainly not Winding-Refn. My guess is that NWR needed to do some research not just of the fashion world he tried so badly to recreate but of the movies that have dealt so longingly and beautifully with themes such as cannibalism, envy and eternal youth. Try the Hunger with David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve or even Fellini's "La Dolce Vita" that introduced us to paparazzi. Those films brought slick, disturbing yet hauntingly beautiful images on screen to create classics that still stand. The world of the Neon Demon has been one that photographers and cinematographers have depicted for decades yet this new film utterly fails to continue that startling tradition.

BOND

I watched this primarily because the cinematography did look visually stunning and creative, giving that the trailer didn't show much about the film. Unfortunately, right from the start there was no visible plot. Granted, I actually do enjoy plot less films, but the dialogue and acting have to really make up for it, and in this case neither did. The script is unbearable. I'm not sure what Refn was aiming at, message wise, or if he was making a statement about the fashion industry overall. It was somewhat unsettling to have a male directly with nearly an all female cast trying to say something about women in this industry and society overall. I understand excessive gore but the blood and antics in here really had no significance. As usual, it was disappointing to see a film like this use lesbian sex scenes purely for "artistic" purposes. There was unnecessary fetishization and misrepresentation as a whole. It was a shame that Elle Fanning was in this because I can see she has talent. 2/10 with an extra point for the cinematography.

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