Directed by:
Nicolas Winding RefnCinematography:
Natasha BraierComposer:
Cliff MartinezCast:
Elle Fanning, Jena Malone, Abbey Lee, Bella Heathcote, Karl Glusman, Desmond Harrington, Keanu Reeves, Christina Hendricks, Alessandro Nivola, Charles Baker (more)VOD (1)
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The film follows 16-year-old aspiring model Jesse (Elle Fanning) as she moves to Los Angeles to pursue her dream. Signed by Jan (Christina Hendricks)'s modelling agency, Jesse quickly finds herself working with some of the city's top designers and photographers. But her innocence and youth make her a target of her fellow models, including Gigi (Bella Heathcote) and Sarah (Abbey Lee), who it seems are willing to go to any lengths to possess Jesse's X factor and to get revenge for the theft of their limelight. The cast also includes Jena Malone, Desmond Harrington, Keanu Reeves and Alessandro Nivola. (Icon Home Entertainment)
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Reviews (13)
A non-mainstream, visually captivating, hypnotically immersive experience for those who can appreciate Nicolas Winding Refn's extraordinary visual sensibilities. But Refn is also explicitly provocative, completely unnecessarily so, and I could really do without a few scenes (sex in the morgue, yuck!). So when I add up the pros and cons, Refn ends up with a draw, but the kid has talent for more, much more. That's probably how Jaromil Jireš would shoot it when he was making Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, he would be a bit of a pervert and permanently on drugs.
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Pubertal provocation. Refn was able to show the depth of the surface in such a way that a similar emptied mess full of dull script clichés could hardly upset a person. In addition, NRW directs poorly this time. Wooden dialogues, clip sequences that every little talented advertising director can handle, whilst the great Elle and Cliff Martinez's electro-arpeggio take care of all the dynamics. I was expecting hypnosis, but this is a sedative. [Cannes 2016]
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”Beauty isn't everything. It's the only thing.” Beautiful opening and end credits, largely thanks to Cliff Martinez, who looks like he might become one of the greatest film composers of the future. But that’s where the enthusiasm ends. It would be a pity if we stopped looking forward to Refn’s movies and were instead only curious about them. It seems like that is what he tried to achieve here, forgetting that he earned his biggest success (not just in Cannes) thanks to a story with heart (Drive), elevated by his unique style of directing, not by that style alone. The Neon Demon is a simple film with a clear message. There is no puzzle arousing exciting intellectual debates like in Only God Forgives. In its simplicity and lack of surprising elements, the film replaces the possibility of getting emotionally involved in the story with purely visual storytelling, which looks attractive but leaves the viewer unmoved. But I guess you should see this, at least because of the slobbering over a corpse we’ve never seen in an A-movie before. [Cannes]
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Refn is one of those directors that I always wished would make a horror film. The announcement of Neon Demon fulfilled one of my dreams as a cinemagoer and the expectations couldn’t have been higher. After the responses from the première in Cannes, I still believed the film will grip and captivate me instead of sending me to the other side of the fence, with the disgusted and annoyed viewers. But in the end it was worse – it was just meh! Boring. It didn’t arouse any emotions, positive or negative. Audiovisually, it’s beautifully empty.
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Nicolas Refn is the perfect director for shooting spectacular spectacles because he can cleverly bombard the viewer with attractive sensations. His talent would be greatly utilized in shooting advertisements and music videos, as well as certain genres of films. He could easily handle refined eroticism without a blink of an eye - if, however, he didn't want to convince the viewer, and most likely himself as well, that he is destined for the world of great art. He therefore chooses inadequate film resources for his goals, discovering banal, universally accessible truths and attempting to camouflage depth where it tramples in the quagmire. It's a shame because with his reputation he should have no problem persuading leading character actresses to undress in the interest of the Muses. However, in this affected, elongated pose, Refn becomes annoying. I will give him 30% for the participating ladies, and he should be glad that I am feeling sympathetic and that I'm squinting my eyes at this desperation until it hurts.
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