Review of The Neon Demon (2016) by Easterfields — 26 Jun 2016

This film operates on so many levels (emotional and intellectual) that I fear many who are afraid to peel the onion of the deeper insinuations of "Hollywood" and the acting/modeling industry will only accept it at face value.

This is to do The Neon Demon a serious injustice! True it is a horror movie, but not in the traditional sense. The horror comes from the way the story is being told and ultimately where it goes...The mind-bending way in which this film infiltrates your consciousness is no doubt in part due to the absolutely luscious and vivid colors, imagery, and contrasts.

Refn is no doubt a student of Kubrick and Lynch as the influences of films like Eyes Wide Shut, The Shining, Mulholland Drive, etc. are quite evident. This is good though as very few visual journey's are so compelling and lingering.

Cliff Martinez's score is brilliant and does an amazing job of perpetrating the uncomfortable anticipation and unease of what may be coming next. Refn does a great job of making us wait for the resolution and Elle Fanning gives a performance that is as beautiful as it is disturbing.

Perhaps she is only outmatched by the performance of Jena Malone who has seriously raised the bar on how frightening a female character can truly be.