The Neon Demon
The Neon Demon
R | 14 June 2016 (USA)
The Neon Demon Trailers

When aspiring model Jesse moves to Los Angeles, her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will take any means necessary to get what she has.

Reviews
Katherine_7

Some will say this movie is soulless trash, visually stunning but nothing inside, no story, no plot. And that is exactly what the movie is about. Outside beauty. It's superficial and the person, as some of the characters you'll come across in "The Neon Demon", might be dead inside. Beauty is depicted through the characters, lightning, with every camera angle, through the whole atmosphere which will leave you feeling empty. Even the conversations they have are regarding beauty. The movie is about the inner ugliness of the people surrounding our protagonist - Jesse, how she copes with it and how she is devoured by the beauty world by giving into it. I do agree that this movie has nothing new to say, but by that analogy all the movies have nothing new to say. Every movie is about things we come across in every day life, of course not to the extent the movies show it. I guess the bad reviews are from hasty, unpatient people that like action movies where good plot is concidered "Uugh, my wife/kid/dog got killed! I'm gonna spend the next hour killing and destroying!" Nicolas Winding Refn takes his time with his scenes and if you're in a hurry, go watch Mission Impossible or something similar to that kind.

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christianrmaxwell

The movie Dogtooth directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and this movie both have some things in common. Not only are they both movies that are very abstract in their production, but they are also both movies that I would describe as experiences rather than films. My reasoning for this is somewhat hard to explain, but it mainly boils down to the fact that both films present a string of events, presented in a very "realistic" (I use this term referring to the shots and dialogue, not at all with the content being presented) manner. This movie was outstanding in terms of visuals, and my god, the soundtrack was phenomenal and added much needed suspense to some moments in the movie that might have suffered without it. The acting in this movie was great as far as the main characters and Keanu Reeve's character go, however, there were a few side characters that I believed did not deliver their lines so convincingly. However, they are side characters and as a result did not draw me out of the movie too often. The story of this movie honestly did not have a lot going on, but again, as with Dogtooth, I believe that is kind of the point. Nicolas Winding Refn is too good of a director and writer to just accidentally present a film with little story. I believe this was done on purpose for this movie, to make it play out, like I said before as an experience. The movie also makes some surprisingly great social commentary on beauty and human nature itself. I have no idea why this movie has "horror" as its first genre, as the movie was not horrifying at all in my opinion. However, I do agree that this movie is a thriller, Refn takes the audience on a ride, winding up the coils of suspense until he just releases the coils and lets everything fly, referring to that crazy ending of course. The strangest and perhaps most intriguing thing about this movie to me was the fact that even though the ending was absolutely insane, it did not seem out of place at all in terms of the movie's universe. Even though the universe at first was presented as very realistic, as the movie went on you could feel the reality start to slip as if Refn had been slowly pulling a rug out from under you. This movie was fantastic, although there were a few flaws, and I do not believe I have the desire to watch it again, it is definitely a thrilling, visually compelling, smart ride that will have you holding on for your life as the credits roll.

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dallasryan

The Neon Demon, what can you say. It is very chic and sleek in it's images, and it's very saturated in Neon, so it's not just a clever name. The music score is phenomenal and Refn definitely has an eye for something, but like Only God Forgives, I have no clue what this film was about. Yet I liked it, kind of sort of. Perhaps Refn doesn't know what the film is about either. Maybe he just put it out there like a work of art for the viewing public to subjectively give their opinion on. Who knows. In the end there is no movie quite like The Neon Demon. It's most definitely one of a kind.

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Dominik528

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).

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