The Neon Demon

I can understand the harsh reviews, this movie isn't for everyone but it's such a GORGEOUS movie, every shot is so aesthetically pleasing and i like it so much, the story and the acting were fine too it's disturbing yes but absolutely not a waste of time

This film tells the story of a sixteen years old girl who moves to Los Angeles to pursue her modeling dream. She knows that she's beautiful, and quickly establishes herself in the modeling world. Jealousy from other models quickly ensue, with undesirable results.

The beginning of "The Neon Demon" looks quite promising, as it retains the beautiful visuals that Nicholas Winding Refn is known for, but is upbeat because of the electronic music. The plot looks quite interesting as it tells the story of jealous, backstabbing models. Then, the story is interspersed between many visually stunning but purposeless scenes. The ending of the film becomes really bizarre, I got so lost and just could not believe what I was watching. I don't even know what the second half of the film is about, except that it wants to be very provocative. If the film could be consistently like the first half, I would actually have liked it.

Having seen previous films by Nicolas Winding Refn and consider Drive to be a masterpiece, had little expectations for this film. There is certainly some influences within Drive in the Neon Demon but this film is closer to Only God Forgives in terms of quality.

Now his films are certain art house pieces and we can see as to why many people would dislike this film. It is most certainly for an acquired taste and not for everyone.

As the film, well done visuals and the camera angles and set pieces are nice to look at but after a while the story line becomes predictable and cliche. There are some intrigue at first then suddenly flares off a little. There are certainly several bizarre and more disturbing scenes towards the end which stand out.

This film isn't perfect, yet isn't completely awful. It is a step up from OGF but not on the level of Drive.

There appear to be some who think this is a movie about the fashion industry. If so, it has about as much to say about fashion as "Suspira" has to say about ballet. Really, this film is about obsession, loneliness, fear and the crippling tension of being on constant guard against the attack of predators. Alone and vulnerable in Los Angeles, Jesse (Elle Fanning) is a skittish prey animal surrounded by the dangers of the urban jungle. As she navigates the threats around her, she transforms into a kind of predator herself. But she will soon discover that not all killers hunt alone.

Going into this film, I didn't truly know what to expect. All I knew was that the promotional images really captured my attention, due to the pretty colors, with up-and-coming actress, Elle Fanning in the center. A "nymphet" Tumblr blog I follow also re-blogged images from this. It's some kind of horror (I read the sex/nudity descriptions in the parental guidance section here prior to viewing) that has very mixed reviews.

Much of the the first two acts is relatively slow and realistic. It's got great visuals, despite two scenes with annoying flashing lights. The trip-hop soundtrack by Cliff Martinez is also ear-catching. But, boy, was I not expecting such a final act! Thinking back on it, there's a decent amount of foreshadowing leading up to it. As the track titled, "Are We Having a Party" played over, my eyes were widened as I realized what had happened to Jesse (Fanning). In spite of its disturbing aspects (notably, a scene involving necrophilia), I ended up really liking The Neon Demon. I appreciate how it chose to make audiences uncomfortable rather than the usual "lesbianism is hot~" excuse (ie Birdman). There are critics who hate and/or have called this misogynistic, and I can completely understand why; but that doesn't wane my enjoyment of it.

On the official movie discussion on Reddit, users have called this "David Lynch meets Black Swan," which I also happen to agree with.

It was great to see Abbey Kershaw on-screen again after her debut in Mad Max: Fury Road - also kind of funny her playing an aspiring model, considering she already works as one in real-life; can't wait to see what else she and Fanning have to offer in future projects!

Learning that the director, Nicholas Refn, was born colorblind is very surprising, since his movies are so awashed with vivid colors. I'm planning on watching Only God Forgives and Drive next (the latter generally being considered his best work).