The Neon Demon (2016)

hyped garbage

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

Some will say this movie is soulless trash, visually stunning but nothing inside, no story, no plot. And that is exactly what the movie is about. Outside beauty. It's superficial and the person, as some of the characters you'll come across in "The Neon Demon", might be dead inside. Beauty is depicted through the characters, lightning, with every camera angle, through the whole atmosphere which will leave you feeling empty. Even the conversations they have are regarding beauty. The movie is about the inner ugliness of the people surrounding our protagonist - Jesse, how she copes with it and how she is devoured by the beauty world by giving into it. I do agree that this movie has nothing new to say, but by that analogy all the movies have nothing new to say. Every movie is about things we come across in every day life, of course not to the extent the movies show it. I guess the bad reviews are from hasty, unpatient people that like action movies where good plot is concidered "Uugh, my wife/kid/dog got killed! I'm gonna spend the next hour killing and destroying!" Nicolas Winding Refn takes his time with his scenes and if you're in a hurry, go watch Mission Impossible or something similar to that kind.

The Neon Demon, what can you say. It is very chic and sleek in it's images, and it's very saturated in Neon, so it's not just a clever name. The music score is phenomenal and Refn definitely has an eye for something, but like Only God Forgives, I have no clue what this film was about. Yet I liked it, kind of sort of. Perhaps Refn doesn't know what the film is about either. Maybe he just put it out there like a work of art for the viewing public to subjectively give their opinion on. Who knows. In the end there is no movie quite like The Neon Demon. It's most definitely one of a kind.

It's an accidental comedy in one or two scenes. Nothing artful about it at all. Not even really visually stunning like some claim. It's about as visually stunning as a cotton candy bloated dizzy carnival nightmare. Yea, I'm pretty sure this is the worst movie I've seen in a good long time.

Suspira is a visually sumptuous experience with incredible audio, a film to immerse yourself in. Neon Demon has tried to replicate the style, music and even theme of Suspira. It is a passible attempt but falls way short. The colour saturation; dominant haunting music; long corridor & door shots; long slow non-action; vampires replacing witches; lesbian theme - these all reflect Suspira. Enjoy this film but for a special experience watch the original.