Reviews

Moody, surreal, obtuse. If you like Nicolas Winding Refn's recent opus such as Valhalla Rising and Drive, you will also like The Neon Demon. In signature Refn fashion, he tiptoes the line between thriller and art-school thesis, this time appropriating the high-gloss sheen and shallowness of the L.A. fashion scene in both subject and structure. It plays like a fever dream. It feels like waking up when the credits roll. It will haunt you for days.

A wonderful little character study of a prepper, which feels particularly germane during present COVID pandemic. Although nominally the villain, the prepper's character is developed with complexity and depth such that he is never a caricature, and all actions are unsettlingly believable. The film is very well directed, with action scenes filmed in a tense, restrained, intimate POV, and character moments rich with meaning and dread. Excellent moody sound design helps with this as well. Though the cast may be unfamiliar to American audiences, my understanding is that this is an all-star cast in Québec (where the movie was filmed), and the acting is evidently higher calibre than your typical B-list or made-for-Netflix production. Never a dull or pointless moment, this well-crafted story barrels from the outset straight towards its inevitable conclusion, although with enough of a surprise/twist on your expectations that it holds just shy of predictable.