Nicolas Winding Refn is best known for his moody, violent art house flick, Drive, the film that propelled Ryan Gosling into stardom. The Neon Demon is the Refn’s latest work, which has been causing a stir since audiences booed the movie at the Cannes Film Festival for its depravity and depiction of necrophilia.
Elle Fanning plays Jesse, a beautiful sixteen year old ingenue who moves to Los Angeles to become a model. Jesse epitomises the innocent virginal beauty, whose innocence and sweetness contrasts with those who already inhabit the modelling world, where it is not who you are inside that counts, but what you look like.
This is a film about surfaces and image, a theme of which is present in the scenery and set pieces. We see glitter falling across the screen in the opening scene and Elle is repeatedly masked in glitter, jewels and sequins for photo shoots. The mirror is ubiquitous in the film, often used as a symbol for appearance and self-image; mirrors are kissed, smashed and drawn on by various characters.
Cliff Martinez’s soundtrack is a futuristic alien disco which complements the strangeness and horror elements. Martinez is never conventional, and this score adds another dimension to the story, frequently setting the pace and defining a tone that would be absence otherwise.
The look of the film is perfect; it is cinematic, experimental and comparable to expensive music videos or glossy perfume adverts. Photo shoots and catwalk auditions take place in large white bare spaces which have an empty, lifeless quality. Everything looks perfect and the result is wonderfully unsettling and alien.
Over the course of the film Jesse is transformed from sweet innocent girl to a narcissistic nightmare. She discovers the power her youthful looks have over those around her including Hank, played by Keanu Reeves, the motel manager who lusts creepily after the young female occupiers. She meets jealous models like Gigi (Bella Heathcote) who believes that surgery is just ‘good grooming’, and Sarah (Abbey Lee) who is losing work to younger models like Jesse – “Do you know how lucky you are? I’m a ghost.” The story gradually grows more surreal and violent like a bloody fairy tale.
The script and performances can be a problem for The Neon Demon. In the opening scenes, Ruby, played by Jenna Malone, lusts after Jesse in a way that is neither subtle nor realistic. In the opening scenes, Ruby asks Jesse “Am I staring?” She then apologises and explains that she cannot help herself because Jesse has such beautiful skin. This is not the only cringe worthy exchange that sound like lines from a badly written romance novel or porn movie. It may be the case that Refn chose to make these scenes seem ridiculous and fake, continuing his portrayal of the modelling world as something unreal. But even if this is the case, as a consequence it becomes difficult to be drawn into this world. The bad acting throughout the movie may also be intentional but it does not work.
The tone of the film is not always clear. Although there are moments of horror that will genuinely make you squirm in your seat, there are also serious moments that are funny when they are not supposed to be.
However despite the flaws, the film succeeds in other areas. The art house elements, soundtrack and cinematography are inventive and effective. The Neon Demon succeeds in symbolism and imagery and is a bloody critique of the modelling industry. Beauty and horror coincides to reinvent the horror genre as audiences are familiar with the beautiful woman as the victim, but not the horror itself.
soul and city 