The Neon Demon
I've already seen this twice and went to see it on opening day because I knew I would love it. Very pleased with the film. Right from
the opening credits and the first shot of Elle, I was drawn in. Touches
of Refn everywhere. As usual the soundtrack and film score are ace. The
lights and color in the film are so in your face, absolutely gorgeous to
watch. As expected, characters and plot depth is sacrificed for the
atmosphere that is set in the film. It really works though. Characters
are meant to be shallow, they are pretty models in a cutthroat
environment of the fashion/modeling industry. Its a survival of the
fittest environment, where the new cat comes along and threatens the
survival of the more seasoned models, with her simplistic beauty and
innocence that everyone just fawns over. I got some real Black Swan
vibes from the general plot and grim nature underneath something meant
to be pretty. In this world of "beauty" there is some serious visceral
horror. Love how the seediness of Los Angeles is captured, as
exemplified by the dull sleazy looking motel. I'm not sure everyone will
love it. I can see many people disliking it. There were some shock
horror bits I could have done without that I feel got included for the
sake of the shock value. I can't complain much about it though because
it fits right in the psychotic realm of the film.
Could the characters have used more development? Yes. I think it would change the experience though. Also it would spoil what the film leads towards. First half of the film is just visually beautiful and alluring. The next half I'd say the horror of it really kicks in and everything comes at you fast. Overall, as far as Refn films go I'd say Drive is still his best (and will be hard to top) but TND was for me much better than the others I've seen.
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