The Neon Demon Movie Review

Article by Gabe Zia

Lazy Film Critic Movie Reviews

The Neon Demon

I've been a long time fan of Nicolas Winding-Refn, I think he's established his own unique style of visually based storytelling enough to separate him from most other style over substance directors, and especially with films like Drive and Bronson, he's proven he can tell rich character driven narratives as well. However, his movies are often very dividing, and his latest film "The Neon Demon", a film about a young model entering the fashion industry - is no exception. However, based on the first sentence of this post, I think you can already tell where I stand.

There is a lot to talk about with this movie, so brace yourselves for another long review - although who are we kidding, I love writing these. This film has a decently large cast, and each actor gets a moment in the spotlight to show a really impressive performance. Jena Malone and Abbey Lee were two that I knew were going to be good going into this movie, but the surprise to me was Elle Fanning. Much like Malone or Lee, Fanning has shown in stuff like Super 8 or Maleficient that she has talent, but never is her acting talent showcased as strongly as it is here, in what is easily the best performance in her career so-far.

Nicolas Winding-Refns films are all fairly different, but aside from the gorgeous visuals and 80s style music, something Refn absolute excels at in my opinion is writing despicable characters. And while a film like Drive or Only God Forgives would have only one or two dislikable characters, The Neon Demon is full of them, including the main character by the halfway point of the film. And this is what leads to another great aspect of this film, which is the stellar screenplay and story. With Neon Demon, Refn has delivered one of his best narratives, with some heavy motifs and moments of dramatic irony resembling Macbeth - something I absolutely did not expect going into this movie.

Another element that makes The Neon Demon stand out is the point it's trying to make, and it's a point that I applaud this film for talking about. At it's core, The Neon Demon is a huge metaphor for how society treats women, the ridiculous beauty standards women are held up to, and the shifty nature of the fashion industry. Not a lot of movies talk about this, and when they do, they don't handle it with the kind of maturity or brutal honesty that this film handles it. This isn't a film that's meant to be taken literally, but one that's trying to make a point. And again, it's a damn important point to make.

Let's not dance around the subject here though. Nicolas Winding-Refn films are known for being an audio visual experience made by a director who knows how to make a beautiful shot and a beautiful soundtrack. And both elements are at the top of their game here. The Neon Demon is a beautiful film to look at and listen to. The cinematography is the best I've seen all year, with vibrant colours, spectacular framing, and outstanding lighting work. The soundtrack to this movie is probably my favorite soundtrack of the year.

However, unfortunately much like every NWR film, this movie is not for everybody. In fact, of NWR films, this film is probably the least generalized film of his. It's metaphors may go over peoples heads (I'm not just saying that either, there were some people who didn't understand the movie at all after it had ended). There's the usual group of people who will bash NWR for being "pretentious" (although I'd reserve that word for movies with forced metaphors that don't make any sense in the context of the film like Batman v Superman). And of course, this movie's third act is... Well let's just say some people in my screening were gagging and I think one dude had to leave to throw up. This movies third act is deeply disturbing, shocking, and pretty disgusting, but if you can look past that or just brace through it like I did, you'll get a pretty damn good movie.

Final Rating
Is The Neon Demon for everybody? Absolutely not, in fact I can think of quite a number of people I know wouldn't enjoy this movie, either because they don't like films like this, or would simply find the final act to be way too much for them. Normally, this is where I'd dock off a couple of points, as the only films I give my highest score to are films that absolutely everyone could and should watch and will probably love. However, because of the amazing point this movie is trying to make and the way it makes it, coupled with the best execution of a Shakespearean-ish tragedy I've seen since Breaking Bad ended, and all put together in a movie with breathtaking cinematography- Yeah, you're damn right I'm going with my highest possible score.