I think this is only on DVD/Blu-Rays of big studio releases, but I kind of hate how they show you the MPAA rating, including all of the reasons, before a film starts. It sort of spoils things, you know? For example, The Neon Demon: Rated R for "disturbing violent content, bloody images, graphic nudity, a scene of aberrant sexuality, and language." Guess which one jumps out at me? So I'm spending the film with that in the back of my mind, just waiting for an aberrant sexual act. Also, what qualifies as "aberrant" in the eyes of the MPAA? Knowing them, non-heterosexual sex? But I guess The Neon Demon eventually delivers in the aberrant sex department... let's just say I won't be recommending this to anyone at work.
But it's reminds me of how credits can kind of play as spoilers too. Like if I see a movie with a "monster design by" or "creature effects by" credit, I get excited... "okay, there's a monster coming up." But with this ratings business, I'm sitting there waiting for Some Drug Use, or Some Sequences of Explicit Sexual Content Including Perverse Imagery. It kind of ruins the surprise.
The Neon Demon is pretty good.
My Synopsis: 16 year old Jesse moves out to LA to be a model - she has a natural magnetism and is destined to be a big deal. (She just needs to tell people she's 19.) But the world of high fashion is crazy! It's totally cutthroat, jealousy runs amok, and people try to take advantage of her - but she's tougher than she looks. How far will she go to "make it?" To the very depths of madness? Will she sell her soul to... The Neon Demon? (There's no neon demon - and sadly, this is not a secret prequel to Neon Maniacs.)
Elaborate Genre: ??? - I read a review that called it the trash-art (or art-trash?) film of the year - that sounds about right.
Overall: It's moody and looks awesome, and has a great soundtrack. But it's lacking in the story department. I guess no surprise considering Nicolas Winding Refn and all. But it doesn't quite click like Drive. Still, it's totally worth it if you're a Refn-head or like art-house horror.
I'm honestly just kind of at a loss as to what to say about The Neon Demon. It's a super stylish, great looking, extremely unsubtle look at not only the world of high fashion, but also vanity and pretentiousness in general. My initial take is that it's critiquing what people value and how they process both people and art. ("Beauty isn't everything. It's the only thing.") I think you could spend a lot of words analyzing the themes Refn is exploring here, but I don't have the time or the brains to do so.
At the same time, The Neon Demon will revel in the same things it seems to be taking aim at. The camera lingers on a shot, or the lighting is crazy unrealistic, or something totally ridiculous will happen, just because it looks cool. Refn clearly has no problem playing around with these concepts - mocking pretentiousness and being pretentious at the same time. It's a masturbatory film - but I mean that in a good way.
I mean, I'm just going to cut it here. I think you probably know if you like hearing words like "pretentious" and "masturbatory" matched up with horror movies. And honestly, while it succeeds on the level of being a pretty trippy slice of cinema to chew on, I'm not entirely sure how well it succeeds in being a "horror" film. Yeah, there's definitely some nastiness and gore here and there (and that scene of aberrant sexuality), and a couple of other genuinely distressing scenes. But there's not a lot of traditional tension / stalking / whatever. It's kind of a horror film by default, because what else could it possibly be? And if you aren't already aware of this film, or at least of Refn's reputation, I'd reckon you're not going to like The Neon Demon regardless. But if you're into his schtick - and I *totally* am:
I would recommend this film.
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