Review – The Neon Demon

Nothing screams summer movies quite like necrophilia and cannibalism, am I right?  No?  Well apparently it does to Nicolas Winding Refn.  The Neon Demon is a Tinseltown horror film.  It takes us deep into the underbelly of the modeling world and shows us a dark, twisted side that is filled with lies, deceit, blood, and glitter.

When aspiring model Jesse (Elle Fanning) moves to Los Angeles searching for fame, her innocence and vitality disappears as she gets deeper and more popular in the modeling world and encounters a group of fame-driven models who will do everything to have what she has.

For such a young age, Elle Fanning is putting together quite the filmography.  Her performance is The Neon Demon is far and away the most mature and best performance of her career.  Fanning is simply mesmerizing.  We watch this innocent, naive teenage transform into an arrogant, devilish model that takes the world by storm.  It’s a mature, daring, brave performance and one of the best performances of the year.  Jenna Malone is also very good in this film as Ruby, the only real friend Jesse has in L.A.  Ruby is not who you expect her to be and it makes for a fun twist towards the end of the film.  Malone does things in this film not all actresses would do, and she deserves recognition for going balls to the wall for this performance.

The Neon Demon is a testament to the great direction of Refn.  This movie could have been Showgirls (1995) 2.0, and sort of starts out that way, with some awkward conversations between Jesse, Ruby, and some other models.  But, with his deft hand behind the camera and his amazing eye for visuals, Refn has created a hypnotic, beautifully constructed film featuring a brilliant score by Cliff Martinez and dazzling cinematography by Natasha Braier.  Nothing is campy about this techno horror film, but it isn’t the most conventional film either.  The movie takes a look at competition and ego and what people will do to be the best and the lengths they will go to be on top and does so in such a way, you can’t take your eyes off the screen.

The third act dives into a dark and horrifying world where the cost of fame will literally eat you alive.  There are a number of shocking scenes in the third act, all of which will make you cringe.  Refn does a great job of not showing everything, but letting us use our imagination on how some of the actions went down.  Depending on your imagination, it could be pretty horrifying.  Scenes of necrophilia and cannibalism are absolutely disgusting and jaw-dropping and yet, so perfectly shot that even in the midst of these terrible acts, I couldn’t look away.

The Neon Demon is one of the wildest movies I have seen all year.  It’s an unconventional, fascinating, creepy, disgusting look at the modeling world and unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.  This movie is going to shock and possibly offend people, but I urge everyone to give this movie a look and immerse yourself in this hypnotic world of modeling hell.

MY RATING – 3.5/4

Did you see The Neon Demon?  What did you think?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter @kevflix or on Facebook at Kevflix.