As someone who really dug DRIVE and is an arthouse kind of guy, I looked forward to NEON DEMON. Unfortunately, it's as bad as some of its poor reviews - if not worse. Trust me, DEMONLOVER is a rollicking good time compared to NEON DEMON. (what is it with Euro filmmakers and Demons?  ;))

First the good stuff. It looks and sounds terrific. Fine photography, art direction, costuming and music. Style to bun.

Unfortunately, the pacing, story construction and stilted acting (much of it the fault of Refn, not necessarily the actors) are stultifying. You'd swear that if the actors spoke and moved like normal human beings, at least 20 of the 118 minutes would be cut from the running time without any further editing.

"Are you ok?" an actress will ask. (pause) (pause) "Yes..." (pause) (pause) "...I" (pause) "...am" will be the reply about one minute later by another actress. Then the two actresses will file out of the room taking another couple of minutes to do so.

I have sat through some of the longest and deliberately paced movies of all time. I have no problem with that if it serves a purpose. Here, the theme of Modeling and Beauty being compared to vampirisim and exploitation is hardly something momentous. I got it. And, just because Refn takes the symbolism to extremes that will offend many (not me), isn't sufficiently satisfaction or compensation to justify the affected filmmaking.

In DRIVE, Refn's aesthetic worked because it fit into the idea of a mercenary driver as a sort of modern samurai. NEON DEMON came to Refn as a vague idea as he woke up one morning and observed the beauty of his wife as she slept in bed (the movie is dedicated to her). It's a sweet romantic thought, but, without a far far better screenplay than he (and two female collaborators) came up with here - it is a notion that should have stayed private.


[img]As someone who really dug DRIVE and is an arthouse kind of guy, I looked forward to NEON DEMON. Unfortunately, it's as bad as some of its poor reviews - if not worse.
First the good stuff. It looks and sounds terrific. Fine photography, art direction, costuming and music. Style to bun.
Unfortunately, the pacing, story construction and stilted acting (much of it the fault of Refn, not necessarily the actors) are stultifying. You'd swear that if the actors spoke and moved like normal human beings, at least 20 of the 118 minutes would be cut from the running time without any further editing.

"Are you ok?" an actress will ask. (pause) (pause) "Yes..." (pause) (pause) "...I" (pause) "...am" will be the reply about one minute later by another actress. Then the two actresses will file out of the room taking another couple of minutes to do so.

As I wrote, I am an arthouse guy. I have sat through some of the longest and deliberately paced movies of all time. I have no problem with that if it serves a purpose. Here, the theme of Modeling and Beauty being compared to vampirisim and exploitation is hardly something momentous. I got it. And, just because Refn takes the symbolism to extremes that will offend many (not me), isn't sufficiently satisfaction or compensation to justify the affected filmmaking.

In DRIVE, Refn's aesthetic worked because it fit into the idea of a mercenary driver as a sort of modern samurai. NEON DEMON came to Refn as a vague idea as he woke up one morning and observed the beauty of his wife as she slept in bed (the movie is dedicated to her). It's a sweet romantic thought, but, without a far far better screenplay than he (and two female collaborators) came up with here - it is a notion that should have stayed private.