WEEKLY FILM: The Neon Demon

The Neon Demon is a 2016 psychological horror film directed & co-produced by Nicolas Winding Refn, produced by Lene Børglum & starring Elle Fanning. The film tells the story of a 16-year-old Jesse who moves to Los Angeles in pursuit of a modelling career. The main themes throughout the movie (in my opinion) are envy, beauty, narcissism & danger.

The movie was announced on November 3rd, 2014, by Refn's production company Space Rocket Nation, alongside his its co-financiers Gaumont Film Company & Wild Bunch. Filming began on location in Los Angeles in late March of 2015 and the film was finally released in May of 2016 at the Cannes Film Festival: all filming was carried out in California, with the majority being true to the film and in Los Angeles, with the exception of a few scenes: the house by the beach being shot in Malibu, Jesse's motel being shot in Pasadena, & the end credits scene being shot in Amboy. Interestingly, another way Refn stayed true to the film's script was by casting Elle Fanning, who was 16 at the time of filming just like her character Jesse.
In January 2015, Refn revealed that the script was inspired by both Elizabeth Bathory and his wife. Bathory inspired him because of her reported violent tendencies, as he had 'made enough films about violent men' and wanted to make a film with only women as a point of focus. His wife inspired him because she was apparently tired of travelling anywhere but L.A. and wanted to only go there, so Refn came up with the idea and went to L.A.

The film's cinematography was carried out by Argentinian cinematographer Natasha Braier, who won the Robert Award for Best Cinematography for her work on The Neon Demon. For the first half of the film, the colour blue is very prominent in the film's lighting and colour scheme; this is because Jesse's story arc mirrors the Greek myth of Narcissus, who falls in love with his reflection in water. This is shown when Jesse walks in Sarno's fashion show, as she has a similar vision to one she had earlier on in the film where she hallucinated a neon blue triangle; in this scene, the triangle turns from blue to red as Jesse's new narcissistic persona, which people have speculated to actually be the 'neon demon', emerges. As fashion plays a big part in the film, a lot of shots are very aesthetically pleasing and feature symmetry and sometimes minimalism; these visually appealing shots could suggest Jesse's outlook of life and how she sees everything as beautiful.

Performance in The Neon Demon helps convey to the audience that this world of beauty has a melancholy atmosphere and isn't all it's cracked up to be. For instance, almost every character seems to be drained from any life or emotion when they talk, apart from when their façade is stripped away or they are putting on false emotions. A good example of false emotions is when Ruby, Jesse's makeup artist or 'friend', talks to Jesse and appears to be a trustworthy person, when really it is revealed to the audience that she is not at the end of the film.

The Neon Demon's editing helps to show Jesse's emotions and her main emotional turning point. For instance, when Jesse cuts her hand at the casting for Sarno's fashion show and Sarah attempts to suck the blood from her hand, she goes home immediately, faints, and hallucinates strange images, shown by a series of sharp cuts in the scene; this suggests that Sarah may have affected the way Jesse thinks, which is a strong hint at the idea that Sarah, Gigi and Ruby are all witches or cult members. Jesse's turning point also features many cuts and flashing images, which make the scene difficult to focus on; this could suggest that Jesse's authentic persona is being pushed down by her new narcissistic persona and is finding it difficult to fight back.

The film's soundtrack was composed by Cliff Martinez, who had worked with Refn previously on his film Drive. Martinez described the soundtrack as a 'sparse electronic score' and compared (musically) the film's first half to 'a melodrama like Valley of the Dolls' and the second half to Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This emphasises both Jesse's and the whole film's turning point and helps convey to the audience how big of a change happens when transitioning from the first to the second half.

The film received mixed reviews by both critics and audiences, with some saying that the film was stylish but had an underdeveloped plot and thinly written characters, and others saying that Refn pushes the plot past its logical end point to land on a 'jaw-dropping' end sequence. The film received half of it's $7 million budget at the box office and both a standing ovation and a disappointed audience at the Cannes Film Festival. This could be because of the film's controversial and strong occult themes shown towards the end of the film; for instance, when Ruby visits her second job as a makeup artist for the dead in a morgue, she reveals herself to be a necrophiliac, which can obviously make an audience uncomfortable. A 'ritual' shown just before the film's end shows Ruby with occult tattoos and blood gushing from her body in a room lit by moonlight, which is where the theory that Gigi, Sarah and Ruby are either witches, cult members or both. A theme a cannibalism is also brought up when Gigi vomits Jesse's eyeball at the very end of the film. All of these themes combined can obviously make a general audience who are not fans of experimental film uncomfortable.