Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn generated critical acclaim early in his career for the Pusher trilogy, Bronson, and stateside breakthrough Drive with Ryan Gosling in 2011. His footprint with Academy voters, however, is limited to Drive‘s lone Sound Editing nom. The filmmaker’s follow-ups Only God Forgives and The Neon Demon received mixed to negative reactions.
His latest is Her Private Hell and it’s out this weekend in limited engagements. The sci-fi thriller stars Sophie Thatcher and Charles Melton with a supporting cast including Havana Rose Liu, Kristine Froseth, Shioli Kutsana, Aoi Yamada, Dougray Scott, Diego Calva, and Hidetoshi Nishijima.
Hell was met with far from a heavenly reception when it premiered at Cannes. With 48% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 44 Metacritic, it represents the weakest overall numbers for Refn. Any hopes of being an awards contender in any fashion evaporated immediately. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…
Five years ago, Nicolas Winding Refn made Drive, one of my absolute favorite pictures in years. The ultra stylish and occasionally extremely violent action thriller was light on plot, but heavy on atmosphere. I found it hypnotic. I was less enamored with OnlyGodForgives, the filmmaker’s follow-up two years later. Violent and fascinating to look at? Indeed it was and it had some good stuff in it. Yet I wrote at the time that it lacked soul and that’s something Drive had with the relationship between Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan.
Now we arrive at TheNeonDemon and that whole soulless thing pervades this experience even more so. Elle Fanning stars as Jesse, fresh out of some small town and in Los Angeles to become a model. She’s sixteen, but tells everyone she’s 19. Jesse is stunningly beautiful and knows it. So does everyone around her and it infects them with feelings of jealousy and lust. This includes two other models (Abbey Lee and Bella Heathcote) and a makeup artist (Jena Malone) who befriends our wide eyed beauty for a while. Then there’s the photographer (Karl Glusman) who has the hots for her and the manager of the fleabag motel (Keanu Reeves) she’s staying at that might, too.
The central concept of TheNeonDemon is that being gorgeous can get you somewhere in life, but it can be dangerous as well due to how it affects others. We pretty much get that within the first 15 minutes and then Demon just keeps going. And going. Anyone familiar with the director knows he favors style over substance and there are some technically pleasing shots to behold. Drive had an interesting enough story to go with the tone and visuals. Forgives did some of the time. This mostly doesn’t. It’s an ugly film about beautiful people.
I found myself simply not caring where the plot went and atmospherics weren’t enough to hold my attention. Nor were the performances. None are bad, but none really rise above the material. The final act gives us a tone shift that may you have you either rolling your eyes or trying to keep your lunch down. We’ve come a long way from the thrill I felt awaiting Refn’s next picture after Drive. With Demon, he seems stuck in reverse.
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