DIRECTOR: Nicolas Winding Refn STARRING: Elle Fanning, Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves, Karl Glusman, Jena Malone, Bella Heathcote, Abbey Lee, Desmond Harrington, Charles Baker, Jamie Clayton, Stacey Danger FRANCE/DENMARK/USA 2016
7
The Neon Demon is Nicolas Winding Refn’s most beautiful film yet, stunning, haunting, exciting, but is it his best? Well… no. That honour still belongs to 2011’s Drive, but that’s not to say the film is bad, the film is certainly an acquired taste. Personally, I loved it, the visuals, the soundtrack, the characters, they were all terrific but other than Refn’s last film; the “love it or loathe it” Only God Forgives in 2013, this is one of Refn’s most niche films which will definitely lead to some mixed responses.
The film, like Refn’s other work besides Drive, is not made to be a mainstream, accessible movie. This is Refn indulging in what he finds interesting and exciting and I applaud him for that. However, many audiences will find this “pretentious” or “self-indulgent” and I can understand their claims. There are scenes that just seem crowbarred in for the sake of what Refn calls his “fetishes” such as a sequence of necrophillia and a scene involving menstrual blood.
The script is also rather weak, the symbolism on screen is all there, but the written dialogue sometimes is just plain bad or awkward. On the positives though, Elle Fanning, Abbey Lee and Jena Malone all give great performances and a cameo appearance by Keanu Reeves is my personal favourite performance in the film. The soundtrack is incredible, Cliff Martinez always gives great work when collaborating with Refn and obviously, the cinematography is outstanding. This film won’t be remembered for its amazing script or characters, but the visual experience.
Overall, The Neon Demon isn’t as good as Drive and Only God Forgives, but it’s certainly a film worth your time in a movie season dominated by more stale comic book adaptions.