The Neon Demon

Starring: Elle Fanning, Karl Glusman, Jena Malone, Bella Heathcote, Abbey Lee, Desmond Harrington, Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves
Directed by: Nicolas Winding Refn
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Thriller
2016

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A naive girl (Elle Fanning) moves to Los Angeles to break into modeling. Her natural beauty attracts incredible jealousy, lust, and love.

Review:

Tim: I have to admit I'm not really up to speed on director Nicolas Winding Refn. He's directed a number of unique movies, most of which I hear good things about. The only movie of his I've seen is Drive, and while I liked the movie, it didn't do enough to really excite me and inspire me to seek out all Refn's other films. That being said, I do want to understand the guy better, so I checked out The Neon Demon. While I have to give Refn credit for creating unique, original, unexpected movies, I can't claim to have been a big fan of this crazy movie.

At the heart of the film is a story worth telling- a young girl moves to Los Angeles. She had this natural beauty that makes people sit up and take notice. This is even more apparent in a place that is full of artificiality and rampant falseness. The movie offers an interesting commentary on the value of something that is real verses fake, on genuineness surrounded by falsity, on innocence verses cynicism. I love that Refn tried to tell a story about a model and used it to comment on Los Angeles, modeling, Hollywood, etc. He tried to make this movie about something and I thoroughly appreciate that. Refn's movies are obviously not very accessible, though. They require a lot of the audience. That's okay, but in this case, the payoff isn't quite worth the work.

It was interesting to cast Elle Fanning in the lead role. She certainly exudes the naivety and naturalness needed for the role, but I don't think she is a great actress. This movie desperately needed a career-defining performance in the lead role and we don't get that. Fanning is okay- she has some very strong moments, but the performance felt too big for her. She wasn't quite up for it. She didn't deliver a home run, maybe a double. She's not bad, but she doesn't deliver what was needed. I liked seeing Jena Malone here and applaud her for embracing this crazy role. She has one of the most insane scenes I've seen in a long time, so I guess I give her credit for really going for it. Desmond Harrington gave a really strong performance. I was excited when I saw Keanu Reeves here, but he really doesn't have much to do. Refn should have used him better or just not included him in the film. Bella Heathcote and Abbey Lee were fine, but I wasn't overly impressed with them. As a whole, I have to say the cast slightly let me down. They were okay, but we didn't get any truly remarkable performances.

The movie does build towards a pretty insane conclusion. I kept asking myself, "Wait, is this really happening?" I'm assuming it's heavily symbolic, as it doesn't take much to connect the dots between the gory, inhuman act performed towards the end of the film and the obvious statement it's making on L.A. I appreciate Refn for making that commentary the lasting piece of the film, but I can't say it helped me like the movie any more.

I hope Refn continues to do what he's doing. It's good for directors like this to make these dark, violent, unexpected movies. Unfortunately, in this case, The Neon Demon didn't quite live up to its aspirations. I applaud the attempt, but this isn't a movie I was particularly fond of, nor do I have any desire to watch the movie again.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Drive