The Neon Demon (C- or 1.5/4 stars)
Danish cult director Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive, Only God Forgives) aims to tantalize us here with 'The Neon Demon', a graphic psycho-slasher thriller taken from a story he wrote about the decadent L.A. fashion world & its jealous models who become figurative vampires because of their competitive world. It's fetishistic, shockingly violent (blood, gore, murder, cannibalistic orgies, necrophilia(!), & beyond), glossy, & visually arresting, if nothing else -- problem is, there's a WHOLE lot of "nothing else". Jesse (sweet Elle Fanning) is a small-town, fresh-faced, newly arrived in Hollywood 16 yr. old model who has immediate success as a rising star in the contentious modeling world; where young women obsessively undergo surgery to make their bodies/faces "perfect" as readily as one gets an oil change. Jesse's natural quality that draws fashion designers & success, however, gets those other tall, twig-thin blondes on the catwalk extreeeemely jealous. Older models Gigi & Sarah (Bella Heathcote, Abbey Lee) hate Jesse & actually want to kill this 'replacement'.
Other characters include off-putting make-up artist Ruby (Jena Malone), who has an intense sexual curiosity about Jesse (interesting that her named is spelled as a Man's); and Keanu Reeves is around as the creepy, brutish manager of the motel that Jesse stays at. Oh, and he has a mountain lion who roams the grounds of said motel {let the analogies/symbolism/metaphors run wild}. When Jesse's relationship with her photographer boyfriend Dean (Karl Glusman) goes south & the motel manager becomes unbearable, make-up artist Ruby invites her to live in a communal mansion where the models ... have fangs. Does Jesse run for the Hollywood hills? Of course not. After accepting the offer, things turn weirder yet, more violent, confusing, & chaotic (some unappealing scenes include a near-rape, something gross involving an eye ball, & one character making love to a corpse). Enjoy at your own peril.
What 'The Neon Demon' offers is style, tension, & curiosities. Refn evokes works from such lovingly oddball directors as Lynch, Cronenberg, & de Palma. That said, the violence is exploitative, the characters are paper thin, & there is little substance to the proceedings. The "story" - if you can call it that - is rotten to the core. The dialogue is often stiff & stilted. The performances are catatonic; though, some of that is intentional. Even the commentary on the modeling/fashion industry is too on-the-nose, superficial, & banal. Refn has nothing worthwhile to say about the world he mocks. And worst of all, this movie is slow & boring.
Now, there are rare moments in this film which DO register as interesting. The moment said mountain lion appears in Jesse's room is a legitimately scary one that got my blood pumping in a good way -- SOMETHING had to wake me up! There's a blood-soaked photo session that had my eyes glued to the screen. There's a strobe-lit party that actually made my eyes do something other than lowering into a sleep-induced coma. Some of the deadpan satire in the film works. The cinematography is the film's best attribute: offering a dreamy, vivid feel. And Cliff Martinez's hypnotic electronic score is a very cool listen. Thank God for the visuals & music; which lent a mercurial vibe. And don't get me wrong, I'm FINE with horror. I don't mind being scared. I don't mind gore. But there's a point in this film where what you're seeing is just so out there & so disgusting, that the initially intriguing effect wears off for good.
Elle Fanning isn't classically gorgeous, but she's a good fit for Jesse because it shows that pretty plainness can sometimes stand-out in a good way against pristine, plastic-surgeried porcelain dolls. Other than her, though, everyone carries off their vampire-like portrayals with too much exactness -- there's nothing to them. One of the more repugnant scenes in the film includes a man holding a knife deep in the throat of a female character; the sight, intent, & symbolism of this visual is just WRONG on so many levels. 'The Neon Demon' is just a miss. I commend aspects of the filmmaking (i.e., striking images). I loved Refn's Drive a few yrs. ago. But little has impressed me since. The power of this film's downward spiral into the dark side of humanity is deadened by the proceeding's inertness. It is pretentious, self-indulgent, inscrutable (in the end), and its few moments of playfulness & 'spark' barely even register.
Other characters include off-putting make-up artist Ruby (Jena Malone), who has an intense sexual curiosity about Jesse (interesting that her named is spelled as a Man's); and Keanu Reeves is around as the creepy, brutish manager of the motel that Jesse stays at. Oh, and he has a mountain lion who roams the grounds of said motel {let the analogies/symbolism/metaphors run wild}. When Jesse's relationship with her photographer boyfriend Dean (Karl Glusman) goes south & the motel manager becomes unbearable, make-up artist Ruby invites her to live in a communal mansion where the models ... have fangs. Does Jesse run for the Hollywood hills? Of course not. After accepting the offer, things turn weirder yet, more violent, confusing, & chaotic (some unappealing scenes include a near-rape, something gross involving an eye ball, & one character making love to a corpse). Enjoy at your own peril.
What 'The Neon Demon' offers is style, tension, & curiosities. Refn evokes works from such lovingly oddball directors as Lynch, Cronenberg, & de Palma. That said, the violence is exploitative, the characters are paper thin, & there is little substance to the proceedings. The "story" - if you can call it that - is rotten to the core. The dialogue is often stiff & stilted. The performances are catatonic; though, some of that is intentional. Even the commentary on the modeling/fashion industry is too on-the-nose, superficial, & banal. Refn has nothing worthwhile to say about the world he mocks. And worst of all, this movie is slow & boring.
Now, there are rare moments in this film which DO register as interesting. The moment said mountain lion appears in Jesse's room is a legitimately scary one that got my blood pumping in a good way -- SOMETHING had to wake me up! There's a blood-soaked photo session that had my eyes glued to the screen. There's a strobe-lit party that actually made my eyes do something other than lowering into a sleep-induced coma. Some of the deadpan satire in the film works. The cinematography is the film's best attribute: offering a dreamy, vivid feel. And Cliff Martinez's hypnotic electronic score is a very cool listen. Thank God for the visuals & music; which lent a mercurial vibe. And don't get me wrong, I'm FINE with horror. I don't mind being scared. I don't mind gore. But there's a point in this film where what you're seeing is just so out there & so disgusting, that the initially intriguing effect wears off for good.
Elle Fanning isn't classically gorgeous, but she's a good fit for Jesse because it shows that pretty plainness can sometimes stand-out in a good way against pristine, plastic-surgeried porcelain dolls. Other than her, though, everyone carries off their vampire-like portrayals with too much exactness -- there's nothing to them. One of the more repugnant scenes in the film includes a man holding a knife deep in the throat of a female character; the sight, intent, & symbolism of this visual is just WRONG on so many levels. 'The Neon Demon' is just a miss. I commend aspects of the filmmaking (i.e., striking images). I loved Refn's Drive a few yrs. ago. But little has impressed me since. The power of this film's downward spiral into the dark side of humanity is deadened by the proceeding's inertness. It is pretentious, self-indulgent, inscrutable (in the end), and its few moments of playfulness & 'spark' barely even register.