Quartile rating: 7/10 · 2 ratings
When aspiring model Jesse moves to Los Angeles, her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will take any means necessary to get what she has.
The Neon Demon is visually ravishing — Natasha Braier's neon-drenched, hyper-stylized cinematography is genuinely exceptional, making it one of the most arresting-looking films of the 2010s. Refn's singular, glacially paced voice gives it unmistakable novelty, fusing high-fashion aesthetics with body horror in a way no other film quite replicates. Acting is serviceable — Elle Fanning's ethereal blankness works thematically, and Jena Malone delivers committed strangeness, but the performances are deliberately affectless in ways that limit emotional engagement. The plot is frustratingly thin and schematic, more a provocative mood piece than a coherent narrative, which leaves it feeling hollow on a story level. The ending goes for shocking transgression but feels somewhat arbitrary rather than truly earned, landing as provocative spectacle rather than satisfying resolution.