The illusion that beauty is the key to fame and fortune often sets a destructive path in the pursuit of happiness. The Neon Demon, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, is a film taking a look at the seedy side of the modeling world and uses the premise of how the fashion industry seduces its victims which in turn lays the ground work for a rather sadistic and twisted story. Filled with jealousy, vanity, envy, narcissism, and obsession, this is a Gothic dark look into allure of doing anything it takes to achieve stardom.
Wide-eyed innocent 16-year-old Jesse (Elle Fanning) arrives in LA hoping to secure a modeling career and become the next big supermodel. She meets Ruby (Jena Malone), a successful makeup artist that clearly has more than just being friends on her mind. Ruby introduces the starlet to leggy and lean models Gigi (Bella Heathcote) and Sarah (Abbey Lee). The cold icy look the two models give Jesse are like daggers and it is clear that if looks could kill Gigi and Sarah would annihilate the new competition with one glance. Jesse is befriended by Dean (Karl Glusman), a dull but sweet photographer, whose romantic interest in Jesse keeps him hopeful that they will be an item. Crossing Jesse’s path is nasty motel owner named Hank (Keanu Reeves), who is quick to squeeze whatever money he can get out of the struggling venerable young lady.
Turning heads wherever she goes, Jesse manages to immediately impress modeling agency executive Jan (Christina Hendricks) who hires her on the spot and predicts that Jesse will be the next big thing in fashion. Much to the horror of Gigi and Sarah, the newcomer gets a gig with a famed photographer that many would die for, making Jesse an even bigger threat to their careers. Surrounded by predators, Jesse becomes isolated on her quest to rise to the top.
Standing out in The Neon Demon are the dark eerie visual effects. Gold paint smeared all over Jesse during a photo shoot, images of her dancing with her reflection, standing in a beautiful gown with the night sky behind her all make for stunning scenes as the director plays with various colors and lighting, signifying the personality changes his subject is going through on her journey to stardom. The haunting music adds to the erotic feel of the movie and leaves a feeling of anticipation and curiosity to see where the story will lead. Using symbolism such as a mountain lion breaking into Jesse’s motel room and a large piece of glass slashing her hand all signify that Jesse has entered into a cut throat and predatory environment that could just swallow her up.
As things progress, Ruby’s true nature is revealed along with the lengths insanely jealous adversaries will go to in an effort to ruin Jesse. Watching the sleazy motel owner’s leering looks that he gives Jesse is pretty creepy. Everyone she comes in contact wants to suck the life out of her for their own selfish reason. The film keeps you guessing as to how Jesse will continue to transform and embrace the power she thinks she has over others while staying one step ahead of those who would use her for their own gain.
The Neon Demon starts off intriguing us but then quickly falls apart. The pacing of the film tries to use the slow burn approach to create suspense but never picks up at pivotal moments to create a real feeling of tension. During the last act it is finally revealed the horror Jesse is going to face, but instead of creating a feeling of dread everything goes haywire with very grotesque images of Lesbianism, a wicked and disturbing act caused by hatred, and a pretty awful mishap from eating something no human being should ever ingest. Perhaps all these scenes were meant to turn the production into a type of horror story but the only thing horrifying is that none of this makes any sense, not to mention how these bad moments completely destroy the long drawn out production. There is little character development to make audiences connect with each of the players and for the most part the female cast just looks like they signed up for a cosmetics commercial.
The Neon Demon with its sluggish script and campy dialogue fails to breathe new life in the worn out storyline of a small town girl trying to make it in the big city, despite the shocking twists during the last third of the movie. This weird take on horror is not going to be in vogue anytime soon so there should be no worries of this effort being a trendsetter for future films.