The Neon Demon is a spectacular failure, but not for most of the reasons people claim. The film is not gratuitous, nor is it vapid, poorly acted, or ugly. It is a beautiful film. But, it is a film that refuses to simply be satisfied with being beautiful. In that ambition, it stumbles. The Neon Demon has both generic and allegorical aspirations to which it utterly fails to live up.
As a thriller or horror film, The Neon Demon is an abject failure. There is nothing foreboding, thrilling, or even concerning about the series of events that unfold. The vaguest semblance of plot that exists is content to give itself away at the film's outset. After all, how can any viewer, after watching the first scene, imagine that the film won't end with Jesse a pretty corpse and Ruby bathing in her blood? Such formal faltering could be read as subversion if there was the slightest hint of cleverness or self-awareness. As it stands, Refn's attempt at minimalism looks more like simple incompetence.
Worse, still, is the film's attempt at philosophical engagement. Refn's crucial intertext is Mulholland Drive. Though this might be a tough sell based on Refn's utter bumbling of his subtext, the connectivity between Refn and Lynch becomes clear when looking at how much Refn owes Lynch in terms of his shots and even how he directs his actors. While Mulholland Drive and The Neon Demon give us similar images of LA, one can imagine that Club Silencio is just minutes away from the clubs and stages Jesse, Ruby, Gigi, and Sarah traipse through and across, Refn grasps at Lynch's ideological coattails. While Mulholland Drive has the benefit of being a film about, like most good movies, itself — Refn attempts to reach outside of his medium into the world of modeling. While I can't say conclusively if there's not a clever and rich film to be made about LA, modeling, images, and physical beauty, Refn certainly does not make a strong case for such a film. Refn's engagement with Lynch reveal the shortcomings of The Neon Demon more than Refn's allusions could ever enrich it. The final nail in the coffin (or final vomited eyeball) is the fact that Refn can't seem to hide the contempt for his subjects in this film. It is hard to commit to good-faith exploration of a concept while Refn seems intent on being so self-righteous and didactic about what he's supposed to be interrogated and denaturalizing. If I were being charitable, I'd say the final scene might metaphorize the unconscious desire to excise the moralism that remains at the heart of this tepid film.
Refn's Drive was such an immense triumph, and Only God Forgives is at least fascinating in delivering a plodding does of pretty scenes. The only regret I have about The Neon Demon is that, rather than being a colossal thought-provoking kind of failure, it fails because of the exact kind of pedestrian mismanagement of both plot and subtext that can be so easily identified. Better luck next time.
Review by MiguelVIP 8BlockedParent2017-01-03T09:19:13Z
The Neon Demon is a spectacular failure, but not for most of the reasons people claim. The film is not gratuitous, nor is it vapid, poorly acted, or ugly. It is a beautiful film. But, it is a film that refuses to simply be satisfied with being beautiful. In that ambition, it stumbles. The Neon Demon has both generic and allegorical aspirations to which it utterly fails to live up.
As a thriller or horror film, The Neon Demon is an abject failure. There is nothing foreboding, thrilling, or even concerning about the series of events that unfold. The vaguest semblance of plot that exists is content to give itself away at the film's outset. After all, how can any viewer, after watching the first scene, imagine that the film won't end with Jesse a pretty corpse and Ruby bathing in her blood? Such formal faltering could be read as subversion if there was the slightest hint of cleverness or self-awareness. As it stands, Refn's attempt at minimalism looks more like simple incompetence.
Worse, still, is the film's attempt at philosophical engagement. Refn's crucial intertext is Mulholland Drive. Though this might be a tough sell based on Refn's utter bumbling of his subtext, the connectivity between Refn and Lynch becomes clear when looking at how much Refn owes Lynch in terms of his shots and even how he directs his actors. While Mulholland Drive and The Neon Demon give us similar images of LA, one can imagine that Club Silencio is just minutes away from the clubs and stages Jesse, Ruby, Gigi, and Sarah traipse through and across, Refn grasps at Lynch's ideological coattails. While Mulholland Drive has the benefit of being a film about, like most good movies, itself — Refn attempts to reach outside of his medium into the world of modeling. While I can't say conclusively if there's not a clever and rich film to be made about LA, modeling, images, and physical beauty, Refn certainly does not make a strong case for such a film. Refn's engagement with Lynch reveal the shortcomings of The Neon Demon more than Refn's allusions could ever enrich it. The final nail in the coffin (or final vomited eyeball) is the fact that Refn can't seem to hide the contempt for his subjects in this film. It is hard to commit to good-faith exploration of a concept while Refn seems intent on being so self-righteous and didactic about what he's supposed to be interrogated and denaturalizing. If I were being charitable, I'd say the final scene might metaphorize the unconscious desire to excise the moralism that remains at the heart of this tepid film.
Refn's Drive was such an immense triumph, and Only God Forgives is at least fascinating in delivering a plodding does of pretty scenes. The only regret I have about The Neon Demon is that, rather than being a colossal thought-provoking kind of failure, it fails because of the exact kind of pedestrian mismanagement of both plot and subtext that can be so easily identified. Better luck next time.