It may look just as bizarre as it is sexy, but this trailer for The Neon Demon promises an experience at the movies unlike any other this year.
The newest film from the mind of Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive), this horrific tale of murder in the LA modeling scene is getting a theatrical release next month, on June 24.
Refn is one of the best visual fetishists in contemporary cinema. With an obsessive disposition and an eye for garish lighting, the guy is always going to make something worth admiring. My fellow Fan Contributor Danielle Ryan described the trailer as showing a “modern Suspiria feel”, which is spot-on.
The film, which will screen at Cannes in competition, stars Elle Fanning as Jesse, a young model whose looks are coveted by those around her. Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves, Alessandro Nivola, Bella Heathcote, and Abbey Lee also star.
Refn’s last film to screen at Cannes, Only God Forgives, got heartily booed. That’s not out of character for the Cannes crowd, especially considering how outright despicable the opening ten minutes of that movie are. But Refn has a talent for taking the utterly despicable and making it slick and beautiful.
Want more of what the crazy, blood-soaked weirdness from that trailer? Take a look at the film’s posters below.