The Neon Demon

The Neon Demon

2016

Director- Nicolas Winding Refn

Cast- Elle Fanning, Jena Malone, Bella Heathcote, Abbey Lee Kershaw, Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves

The Neon Demon is a hard movie to describe. For a two hour film, it feels like there is about 10 minutes of dialogue. It may be an unfair comparison to all of these directors, but imagine if David Lynch directed Suspiria, and that may be the best way to sum up this film.

Like Suspiria, it follows a young ingénue arriving into a world dominated by women (in this case, a young model in the world of fashion) and like Suspiria it gives a lot of attention to color and there are some really beautiful scenes. Like a Lynch film (Lost Highway for instance) it doesn’t present a clear narrative and the audience is left to make up their mind about what the film means. Like Lost Highway, there is an almost nonstop air of menace throughout (including a surprisingly menacing Keanu Reeves).

Jess, the film’s protagonist (Elle Fanning) has just arrived in LA to make her mark as a model.  A make-up artist (played by Jena Malone from Suckerpunch) takes Jess under her wing and introduces her to her model friends (Bella Heathcote and the absolutely stunning Abby Lee Kershaw from Mad Max Fury Road) and some industry moguls. The cattiness surfaces quickly as the “older” veteran models are jealous of Jess’ natural good looks and the attention she gets.

As Jess climbs the model ranks she loses some of her small town humbleness and begins to become a little arrogant as she starts to believe her own hype. Eventually the other models get their revenge in what can only be interpreted as an occult ritual and the last 30 minutes of the film is filled with occult subtext.

            If you’re familiar with Nicholas Winding Refn’s other works (like Valhalla Rising), then you know he isn’t afraid of shocking the audience. The film’s ending aside, this is the only movie I’ve seen that features lesbian necrophilia. That alone is probably enough reason to see it, but the shocking elements aside, it is a beautiful unnerving film.

I also need to note the musical score which combines a methodical techno sound with a light almost music box quality. Beautiful in its own right and worth listening to on its own.