The Neon Demon

2016 Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

Beauty is vicious.

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.

Elle Fanning Jena Malone Desmond Harrington Bella Heathcote Karl Glusman Abbey Lee Christina Hendricks Keanu Reeves Charles Baker Jamie Clayton Stacey Danger Rebecca Dayan Helen Wilson Houda Shretah Taylor Marie Hill Vanessa Martinez Jason Schneidman Rachel Dik Jodie Turner-Smith Lily Moffett Charlize Cotton Allie Lewis Cody Renee Cameron Georgia Fowler Dani Seitz Steve Murillo Alysse Reynolds Autumn Alderson Lucy Cronkite Show All…

Alternative Titles

שד הניאון, 네온 데몬, El demonio neón, Неоновый демон

horror thriller mystery

118 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Karsten Runquist ★★★½ 15

Nicolas Winding Refn’s films are always really good until the characters start saying things.
Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★½ 69

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

K, time for an actual capsule review:
The Neon Demon is an effective, albeit deeply disturbing commentary on physical artificiality and the social construction of beauty as the chief significance in not only the entertainment and fashion industries, but in life, relationships, everything. Needless to say, it's not for the faint of heart; prepare for the utilization of cannibalism and necrophilia as metaphor. Yeah.
Review by Evan ★★★★★ 39

The Neon Demon is a lot of things. Transcendent, hypnotic, and stylish are a few words that come to mind. This film had me hooked from the beginning credit sequence and it never let me go. I'm still kind of in a daze to be honest. Every frame of The Neon Demon is executed to absolute perfection. I cannot give the visuals enough praise. Honestly this is one of the best looking films I have ever seen. It's a five-course meal for the eyes. Also, the soundtrack/score is incredible. I RARELY buy a film's soundtrack and when I say rarely I mean never but I have already purchased the soundtrack from Amazon. Elle Fanning and Jenna Malone were both fantastic.…
Review by Rembrandt Q Pumpernickel ★ 24

Can anyone confirm that Refn has actually met a person?
Review by Eli Hayes ★★★★½ 46

booooooooooooo
what a terrible film
booooooooooooo
all style, no substance
booooooooooooo
it's not social commentary;
it's misogyny
booooooooooooo
brb gonna go scream
at the screen some more
booooooooooooo
god won't forgive this one, Refn
booooooooooooo
(far cry from your previous films, Elle... shit escalated quickly for ya. also, Cliff composed what is probably one of the best scores since the likes of Goblin)
booooooooooooo
Review by nathaxnne (hiatus due to injury) ★★★★½ 33

P U R E T E R R O R

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is Nicolas Winding Refn's favorite movie. This is not immaterial to what follows. To discover that you are within a universe of fear, of unstoppable dread, of the total loss of agency. A universe made from rules inimical to your well-being, a universe that will consume you whole with extreme malevolence, indifferent or pleasured by your confusion, your suffering. In some movies there is a sense of fair play, of an unwritten contract with the audience, that if a level of engagement or trust is placed in the hands of the film, the film will reward or pay off that assumed trust by delivering a satisfying…
Review by brat pitt ★★ 7

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

tbh idk how to feel about this movie. the Predatory Lesbian trope, the extremely unecessary (offscreen but heard) rape of a 13 yr old girl, necrophilia purely for shock value .. YIKE!! the colors + lighting + motifs were absolutely beautiful & i honestly think this is the most aesthetically gorgeous movie ever made but does that offset the misogyny + homophobia? when it ended i felt ambivalent. when my friend & i first began discussing it over bubble tea i loved it. then i began to hate it. on the car ride home i loved it again. right now, im pretty sure i hate it. i haven't stopped thinking about the morals of this movie since i saw it yesterday so at least it accomplishes that.

EDIT: i've thought about it for a few months & i officially dislike it
Review by Todd Gaines ★★ 79

Visually, NWR's The Neon Demon is a masterpiece of color. Flashing lights. Beautiful people everywhere you look. Long extended shots, and a shock factor for the ages. So, why the low score? While realism isn't important in all movies I watch. I need to connect to someone or something while watching a movie. The Neon Demon has zero realism and is about as shallow as Shallow Hal.
NWR doesn't care. He made the movie he wanted to make. I'm sure he's as happy as a kid in a candy store. I get it. A movie about the shallow world of modeling. The way the characters move and look at each other reminds you of a 2 hour fashion show. But,…
Review by DirkH ★ 35

Shiny, shiny turd squeezed through Testosterone's sphincter after a copious meal of hot air.
Review by SilentDawn ★★★★ 10

80/100
The Neon Demon is an acidic, lucid, distant vision of opposites and the eventual victor. Death and beauty, artifice and naturalism battle under a blood-red moon, an ancient clash echoing through the LA night like a ghostly spirit, with the intention of only a single theme being allowed to embed itself in the film's meticulous aura. It's like Nicolas WInding Refn - or what the credits label him as, NWR - is letting his box of crayons spill all over the coloring book, carelessly indulging in every synthetic beat drop and puddle of red corn syrup so that the entire piece morphs into its own demon; a messy, vibrant peek into surface pleasures and the images we yearn for…
Review by random woman ½ 50

for a film so obsessed with aesthetics this movie is really fucking ugly and vile, and not in the way i think refn intended. i dont think men are capable of critiquing the cult of beauty in any meaningful way and i think this is straight up evil, misogynistic trash.
tw violent/suicidal thoughts: also sorry sometimes i love boring-ass movies where fuckall happens but this made me want to roast my own head over an open fire. do you ever have nightmares where you're trapped in one place and it's impossible to escape so the only option is to fucking kill yourself? this is what that was for me. jesus.
Review by Charlie Nash ★★★★½ 6

Shout-out to the old woman who walked out during the final scene yelling, "This movie is for SICK PEOPLE!"

Recent reviews

Review by SUJIN_ ★★½

거칠고 느리게 팽창하는 네온 빛 강렬함.
Review by Alex Young ★★½

Visually stunning, but it's only skin deep. Ultimately style over substance
Review by Bernardo Faria ★★★½

Well... Where do I start ahah
The image and cinematography of this film is thought-out in detail. It is extremely well executed: the fashion show scene is beautifully done; the neons in the title appear everywhere; in fact, this ends so violently with colors that symbolize the total opposite of violence: it is very well thought-out.
Now, shall we talk about all the gore and disgusting things that is contained in it? It's a movie that makes your belly go crazy in every possible way. Extremely disgusting, yes, but art also serves to shock, am I right? And it does it well.
But something is missing in the movie. It portrays the realism of the fashion world, totally pulled to the extreme ofc, but something is missing. There are very strange dialogues and very cringe situations.
P.S.: all my stars go to the cinematography, every frame looks like a horrible living painting.
Review by han ★★★

this was effective for what it was supposed to do as a message, but not as a film. furthermore, the horror elements were well done (mostly), but a lot if it felt like it was done to shock more than to disturb. also, I get that the whole idea is "women will turn on other women the second they get in their way" but it feels inauthentic and more of a plot device than an actual moral.
Review by ainohaino ★★★

i like the horror of it, i don’t think it works as a fully developed film, you know what i mean? it’s not a piece
Review by aheaney15 ★★½

I was definitely fascinated and intrigued by the well done craft behind this movie, but I didn’t really like it. I don’t think it’s bad but I don’t know what to really say about it that I love. Besides the craft departments and the directorial style I didn’t find a lot to like in this movie.
It’s a competent movie for sure. But I personally didn’t enjoy it. Sorry.
5/10
Review by iga 🏳️‍🌈 ★★★

*anxiety inducing do de do di do de do did id di de di intensifies*
cliff martinez really went off in this one
Review by 9beach ★★

진부하고 지루하다.
Review by Sammie Jo 🥀 ★★★ 1

Do 👁 hate it or do 👁 love it?
Review by falafelpapi ★★★½

Pretty
Review by juleslee223

- I do be loving refn’s style always. Always. Master of visuals
Review by Mikale ★★★

This Legend of Zelda went in a weird direction.