The Neon Demon (Review)

The Neon Demon (Film Review) 2016

Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring Elle Fanning, Jena Malone, Keanau Reeves
Psychological Thriller

The Neon Demon, visually, is a masterpiece. Every shot is like an individual painting, meticulously coloured and set. If I was to rate the film solely on its visuals I would have give it a 10/10, but a film is more than just visual.

I don't believe the plot and theme are as complex as some choose to claim. A slightly overdone message on the dangers of vanity and industries which obsess over beauty and youth. I don't believe its disturbing scenes are gratuitous, emphasising how far the idea of beauty can influence people. There are some very interesting visual metaphors throughout the film, also.

The performances in the film were solid, but not exactly extraordinary. Elle Fanning definitely has fun in her role, but her given dialogue was bland. The same goes for the remaining cast, no performances really shone through. It is possible that the simplistic dialogue adds to the theme of vanity.

The film has another 10/10 aspect, its score. Finishing with a powerful piece from Sia, the film is littered with haunting and modern pieces which stick with the viewer. The trailer clearly displays the film's mastery of music.

The Neon Demon is an art film. I am in no way surprised by negative or positive reviews, and it seems the negative to positive review ratio seems to be about 1:1. Its visually and musically amazing, but I personally found the theme to be slightly shallow with some less than stellar dialogue. Although, the visuals and score did effect me more than the latter.

8/10.

Rated 18, runtime 117 minutes.

Eye in the Sky (Film Review) 2016

Eye in the Sky (Film Review)

Eye in the Sky is a 2016 political thriller starring Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul and Alan Rickman.

A military colonel orders a drone strike on a terrorist group in Kenya, but the ethics board worries about the morality of killing innocent civilians.

Eye in the Sky is very tense, and the great cast's acting also adds to the intensity. The feeling of limited time is portrayed very well.

I can't deduce whether its accusations of propaganda are true. I felt that both sides of the drone strike were portrayed as mixed morally.

The movie didn't have any major flaws, but wasn't ridiculously impressive. Some characters should have been developed more to add to the film's engagement. It was a very enjoyable and tense movie.

I would give Eye in the Sky 8/10.

Rated 12a, runtime 103 minutes

10 Cloverfield Lane (Film Review) 2016

10 Cloverfield Lane (Film Review)

10 Cloverfield Lane is a psychological thriller directed by Dan Trachtenberg (début) starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Goodman.

The film begins with Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) waking up in the bunker of Howard (John Goodman), along with Emmett (John Gallagher). She is told that the outside world has been ravaged by nuclear war and that she must stay inside, but this is the word of a man she has never met before.

The film relies on psychological tension, rather than gore and jump-scares. 10 Cloverfield Lane is probably one of the most tense movies I've seen, I constantly felt on edge.

John Goodman plays a character very different from his tradition comedy roles. Mary Elizabeth Winstead portrays her confusion and conflicting thoughts very well with minimal dialogue which is impressive.

Without spoiling, I was extremely disappointed with the ending sequence. I felt that the writers could have gone with a much more intelligent ending, but I could understand how some viewers could like it.

I give 10 Cloverfield Lane 8/10. 

Rated 15, 106 minutes

The Witch (Film Review) 2016

The VVitch (Film Review)

The Witch (A New-England Folktale) is a 2016 horror film directed by Robert Eggers (debut) and starring Anya-Taylor Joy.

The film's opening scene follows a Puritan family being exiled from their church due to the father's ''pride''. They attempt to form a normal living on their own accord.

One of the film's highlights is its realism. Impressively, the child actors in the film were on-par with the older actors. The dialogue is entirely in old-English, which I found irritating at the beginning, but I realise it definitely added to the realism of the rest of the movie. The film is shot without black borders to allow full viewing of the forest trees. The cinematography is clearly impressive if they were willing to alter the aspect ratio.

The horror in this film, while minimal, is very haunting. Child and animal possession, along with very disturbing imagery is common. The animal trainer should be congratulated for their work with the goats and rabbit. I felt the hold-back on the horror added impact to the very disturbing scenes.

Possibly a commentary on religious and marital pressures put on women, The Witch is a film which will keep you thinking well after the film's conclusion.

I give The Witch 8/10.

Rated 15, runtime 93 minutes