America’s Sweetheart Keanu Reeves (Neon Demon Review)
This week Kat and Ryley watch Nicolas Winding Refn's "Neon Demon." Men writing about women's issues? Unheard of!
Review Overview: Visually stunning, but once you take any sort of criticism towards the movie, it immediately crumbles. The actors are doing their best with what they were given. The pacing is slow, the messaging is shallow, and the dialogue is terrible.
A movie about women in the fashion industry co-written and directed by a man who doesn't seem to know enough to make a hearty critique. It takes a weird stance on women being pitted against each other. All the men in the movie are arguably the worst, yet the main villains are women. Dean continues dating Jessie after discovering she's a minor, but he's still portrayed as the voice of reason.
It's irritating to watch because of the conclusion it draws. It's an empty critique of how societal standards are forced on women that blames women for participating in them.
Kat and Ryley: 2/10
kat: [00:00:00] Hello, and welcome to Easy Bake Takes the Podcast. The podcast where we read the one star reviews of your favorite movies and more. I'm Kat
ryley: and I'm Ryley.
kat: This week, we watched Neon Demon. And just a quick trigger warning if you do decide to watch this movie and we'll be talking about some of these things. Um, you know, there's sexual assaults, cannibalism, sort of, necrophilia question mark, some very disturbing violence and gore also, you know, flash warning for this movie if that's something that you have to look out for. This movie came out in 2016, it's an hour and 58 minutes long. It was rated R. It's classified as a psychological horror slash thriller. And we're just gonna break down the plot before we get into anything else. Just, you know, if you don't plan on watching this, but you wanna [00:01:00] know what we have to say. You can follow along. At the beginning, Jesse main character moves to LA from Georgia after her parents die. She moves into a motel. Does the photo shoot with Dean. Meets Ruby. Goes to a party with Ruby and meets Sarah and Gigi and gets drawn into the performance at the party. She signs with an agency with Roberta Hoffman. She goes on a date with Dean and she tells him that she's underage yet they still go on another date after that. She goes back to the motel and there's a mountain lion in her room. And then she does a test shoot with this guy, this photographer named Jack and it's nude. Ruby and Sarah and Gigi meet up and they talk about Jesse. Jesse goes to a casting call with Sarah. Jesse gets the job. Sarah doesn't. Sarah breaks a mirror. Jesse cuts her hand on the glass from the mirror. Sarah tries to eat her blood. Dean shows up to fix her hand. And then Hank tells him to fuck a 13 year old basically. Jesse goes to the fashion show. They just move on. They're just like, okay.
ryley: Yeah.
kat: Yeah. Jesse goes to the fashion show. Gigi's there, she's also walking in the fashion show. Jesse gets chosen to close the show [00:02:00] and then she gets possessed by the stardom. Dinner after the show, the designers there, Jesse brings Dean. Dean storms off after the designer basically says, Jesse is like a rare beauty. She goes back to the motel, basically breaks up with Dean. Woken up by a nightmare where the motel owner, Hank is putting a knife down her throat and then hears him breaking into the room next door to her, which has the 13 year old girl in it. She calls Ruby and goes to stay with her, goes to Ruby's. Ruby tries to have sex with her, she doesn't want to. Ruby goes to work and fucks a corpse. And then Gigi, Sarah and Ruby killed Jesse, eat her, bathe in her blood and then like Ruby bleeds out on the floor for no reason. And then Ruby's walking around shirtless watering plants, and then Sarah and Gigi go to a photo shoot. Gigi pukes up an eyeball, which belongs to Jesse. And then basically kills herself and then Sarah eats the eyeball and goes back to the photo shoot. And that is the end of the movie.
ryley: It's as weird and [00:03:00] not enjoyable to watch as it sounds.
kat: You know, where that, that exact fact is reflected?
ryley: Where?
kat: The budget was 7 million, at the box office it made 3.4.
ryley: Damn. Yeah.
kat: So the director of this movie was Nicolas Winding Refn, who also directed Drive and Only God Forgives. Director of photography, cuz this movie is gorgeous.
ryley: Oh, yeah. Artsy fartsy.
kat: Oh yeah.
ryley: Absolutely.
kat: It's beautiful. It's the
ryley: mm-hmm
kat: this and drive were like the annoying, like neon,
ryley: mm-hmm
kat: light era of like artsy filmmaking.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: But the director of photography on this one was Natasha Braier. Who also did the cinematography for honey boy. The writers Nicolas winning Refn has the story credit, Mary Laws also was a writer for this and was a producer for the show Succession, and Polly Stenham wrote a short film called Blood Rights. And then the cast, Elle Fanning plays Jesse, Keanu Reeves plays Hank, Christina Hendricks plays Roberta. And I just love her. I love,
ryley: I love her too.
kat: Christina Hendricks so much. Karl Glusman [00:04:00] plays Dean, Jena Malone plays Ruby, Bella Heathcote plays Gigi, and Abby Lee plays Sarah. Some trivia. This movie does get compared quite a bit to Suspiria, the seventies version of it. Um, and I would have to agree with that. Having seen Suspiria, it's from the like Italian Giallo era of filmmaking, just very gory, very like psychological. People also speculate that there are influence from The Shining, Mulholland Drive.
ryley: Yeah.
kat: And Carrie, those kind of movies.
ryley: I'm also gonna throw in. And this, this is just my opinion. When the Panthers scene, in, um,
kat: the mountain lion,
ryley: the mountain lion in her motel room, that kind of gave it back to Cat People.
kat: Oh yeah, I see that.
ryley: That's what I thought just for a second.
kat: Mm-hmm
ryley: I totally saw The Shining references. Absolutely.
kat: Yeah. And I don't know if this will have any poor reflection on Elle Fanning,
ryley: mm-hmm
kat: but
ryley: okay.
kat: Refn felt, uh, no, Refn approached Fanning on the dialogue for the female characters to make sure it sounded authentic.
ryley: Wh- what do you mean?. [00:05:00]
kat: He like consulted with her on the dialogue between the female characters to make sure it sounded like real women.
ryley: Okay.
kat: She was also like a 16, 17 year old at this time. So maybe that wasn't the best person to ask?
ryley: No.
kat: Yeah.
ryley: I'm sorry. And just, I'm sorry, one person. He could've-
kat: And he had two women writing with him that were adult women. So it's like, did she,
ryley: Oh, come on.
kat: Yeah, consult the 17 year old. That's smart.
ryley: Yeah.
kat: The next fact that I have, uh, Refn felt there were enough films about violent men and wanted it to be only women in the film and visualized it as an adult fairytale. The composer Cliff Martinez described the music of the film as like having like the first half resembles like Valley of the Dolls and the second half resembles Texas Chainsaw Massacre. But to me, it just sounds like eighties inspired sci-fi like.
ryley: Mm-hmm yeah.
kat: He made it. I g- I guess maybe he's right.
ryley: [00:06:00] Maybe.
kat: This is another one of those films, we've talked about how we dislike this in the past I believe, that shot chronologically.
ryley: It's always weird to hear that.
kat: And the ending was improvised and created on set.
ryley: Uh, the eyeball scene?
kat: Just the entire ending of the movie.
ryley: It was impro- ? Well, okay. That kind of makes a little sense.
kat: Mm-hmm and Carrie Mulligan was originally supposed to play Jesse.
ryley: Oh,
kat: mm-hmm
ryley: well, why did, why didn't?
kat: Probably scheduling or something. I don't know.
ryley: Yeah, she was in Drive. So that would make sense.
kat: The last two things I have are that the mansion they filmed in at the end is the Paramore mansion and it was, they chose that one because it's supposedly haunted.
ryley: It looks supposedly haunted.
kat: It looks creepy as hell. And then the last thing I have as a fun fact is that apparently Refn would never yell action, but instead he would yell "Violence, motherfuckers."
ryley: God. That's kind of funny. That was actually pretty funny.
kat: It is. Okay. So let's move on to our thoughts and feelings. Give it to me.
ryley: [00:07:00] Okay. Um, I. Uh, so where do I start? I, I understand why this movie's very so- so for you.
kat: Mm-hmm.
ryley: Um, this is why you picked it. Um, it is very oh, what's the word for it. I thought it was gonna go somewhere.
kat: It's a rabbit chase.
ryley: Cause it's one of those things where like, oh, it has this message.
kat: Mm-hmm
ryley: and then by the end of it, it's like, was there even a message about anything?
kat: Yeah.
ryley: Because I probably created more of a message just for myself.
kat: From speculation.
ryley: Than what the move- yeah, just than what the- then what the actual movie provided. The women in this movie are very catty. I'm not in the modeling industry I don't know how people interact with each other. Is it really that bad? It, you know what I'm gonna bet it probably is to some degree. This is something that I hate, that they try to make Dean a voice of reason in this movie. And it's like, no, No, no, no.
kat: He was a [00:08:00] very soft spoken one. If, if that's what he was supposed to be.
ryley: Well, he, he, he stands up and tries to say like, no beauty comes from the inside and tries to tell Jesse like, oh, you, you don't be like them or something like that. A little soft voice of reason. But to me, I'm like, No, you should not make a man a voice of reason in this movie.
kat: It definitely like has the same energy as like, you look so much prettier when you don't wear makeup.
ryley: Exactly. Mm-hmm.
kat: Yeah, no, it's, it's ridiculous that he was in a movie that's about like, Women.
ryley: Someone else could have said that that's not a man.
kat: I won't say I won't go into that one too much cause I have some thoughts that pop up in the critic reviews, but.
ryley: Mm-hmm. So for me, I thought this movie was talking about like making commentary about the exploitation of women in the modeling industry, especially young women or objectifying women as well. And then the movie proceeds to just do that. and I don't know if that's the point or an overlook or I [00:09:00] don't know.
kat: It's men writing women. I know there are women on-
ryley: That's the thing. And that's why I have to remind myself a man wrote and directed this movie.
kat: Mm-hmm.
ryley: So it can only go so far.
kat: Same man who wrote drive.
ryley: Yeah. It can only be so much.
kat: It can only dig so deep as well. I, I just wanna mention this, that this movie reminds me of like how we felt about Ingrid Goes West, where it was like, I see what you're trying to do, but you didn't go deep enough.
ryley: Exactly.
kat: Yeah.
ryley: It's yeah. And I don't mean to say like, oh man, couldn't write.
kat: But in a perfect world, the people who these films are talking about would be the people writing it and would be like, the people most involved in the creative aspects of it and stuff like that, but it's, it's not a perfect world.
ryley: Exactly. So I found that a little, I don't even know what the word would be. The morgue scene is disgusting.
kat: It was unnecessary.
ryley: It was so unnecessary. Like, I guess it was trying to make commentary about like.
kat: I don't even know.
ryley: I, I here's the thing I thought there was one and I think it [00:10:00] was like how Ruby was viewing Jesse is like just literally just a body that you could use.
kat: Yeah, it.
ryley: It was so unnecessary. My whole thing though, with this movie is too, is I just, I don't like how, you know, it's set up in the modeling industry, men exploiting young women or objectifying them. And like every dude in this movie was horribly, horribly creepy.
kat: Yeah.
ryley: But it still made women the villain of the movie.
kat: Mm-hmm.
ryley: And I still, I just don't get that. I think that kind of ruins the whole point of the movie.
kat: I agree.
ryley: The demon's supposed to re represent narcissism.
kat: Yeah.
ryley: I'm like, shouldn't it shouldn't it be men?
kat: Mm-hmm
ryley: I would think.
kat: Yeah.
ryley: I would think that's the biggest threat to these women in the movie.
kat: Yeah.
ryley: But, um, that's just me.
kat: Cuz at first, you know, at first glance it seems like a movie that's like the dangers of women being pitted against each other.
ryley: Yeah. Yes, exactly. That's where I thought it was going. And that's why I was mentioning. The women are catty. I was like, oh, but they're catty because that's what their industry requires. They [00:11:00] have to be competitive. They're pitted against each other. They have to be competitive to each other. That's why they act like that. So I take back that like, oh, I didn't like how they're catty. I get it. I, I don't like it, but I get it. So yeah, I thought that kind of just ruined the movie for me. Like I don't get the whole eating her thing. Like, is it like one of those things like, oh, I'm eating her beauty, therefore beautiful. That's the only way I could.
kat: Yeah. You're like, could it's you gain power from like it, some of the critical reviews I saw some people mention like witches.
ryley: Oh yeah.
kat: And like, it's supposed to be like they're like witches and that's like part of their ritual.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: But that part of it would've made the movie a little more interesting if that's what they were.
ryley: Yeah.
kat: In my opinion, like if they were more, obviously like, oh, this is because they're like a supernatural force. It's not just because like, they're just eating this girl and it's not explained, but I won't, I, I won't go too much into that. It's not my turn yet.
ryley: No, it's fine. Because, uh, that was about, that was about it. Yeah. That was my only thing.
kat: Okay.
ryley: I would've liked yeah if they were more witches witches.
kat: Yeah.
ryley: That would've been cooler, but they didn't even do that.
kat: Okay. So I have, I have a chunk of notes. My favorite line [00:12:00] in this movie is when Dean meets the designer and he goes, your name's Bean?
ryley: What a dick, what a dick thing. Not horrible to say cuz it could have just, it's just so funny. Your name's Bean?
kat: Your name's Bean? And then like, I don't know if this was intentional to make all of the, the models that speak like and have a character name in this movie,
ryley: mm-hmm
kat: look the same. Like, I don't know if they,
ryley: I thought I like, at the end, I was like, I don't know who these people were cause I didn't know.
kat: You could barely tell the difference between Sarah and Gigi.
ryley: Yeah, exactly. I didn't know. I didn't know.
kat: Yeah. And Elle doesn't look much different from them yet she has like kind of a different look to her, her face shape's a little different, but it's like kind of, she's kind of in the same, like realm of looks.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: And so I was like, I don't know if that was on purpose or like, she's like, almost looks like them, but she looks better. I, you know.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: It's casting, so that's not really something they can like fully control, but.
ryley: Right.
kat: The next thing I have is that I love Christina Hendricks so much. [00:13:00] I really, really love the part where she goes out into the lobby while talking like, after talking to Elle,
ryley: Oh god.
kat: And she just looks through all the girls points at one and you can go.
ryley: Oh god, I would cry. Oh my God. But that's the industry. That's like, that's what happens all the time.
kat: We're not gonna waste our time on you.
ryley: Yeah.
kat: You can go. That part I was like, yeah. Okay. Jesse's death scene is so underwhelming and very cheesy. Like it's they chase her for so long.
ryley: Mm-hmm
kat: and it's so slow. Like they're walking and she's running with a knife.
ryley: Mm-hmm
kat: and then like they do this thing after they kill her where they're like moving and it looks like they're trying to move as if they're in slow motion, but it's like not put in slowmo.
ryley: Oh my gosh.
kat: Like they're literally like, there's one part where Ruby's like moving her hair and she just goes very slowly, like moves a bang over, just move normal like, you're not, they forgot the effect just.
ryley: Yeah, we ran outta money. We can't do the slow mo, slow motion scene for this.
kat: We spent the rest of our 7 million on [00:14:00] other things, on all the neon lights.
ryley: Yeah. We spent so much on neon lights. No. I love the chase scene because of the heels, they're just clomping around on the hardwood floor. I thought that was funny. I laughed during that.
kat: Yes. And then, um, I don't understand the symbolism of Ruby bleeding out on the floor.
ryley: Is there supposed, I thought it was like, okay, again, it kind of goes back to a witchy kind of thing, cuz like full moon bathing in the full moon. People have always said, this is connected to our, uh, menstrual cycles. I'm like, I don't know about that, but.
kat: But we don't bleed like that.
ryley: I don't. I do. If I was God, take me to a hospital.
kat: Get a doctor.
ryley: Oh my God. Call 9 1 1, please. I thought she was peeing at first. I was like, ew.
kat: I just was like, that's okay. Whatever.
ryley: Yeah.
kat: And then the dialogue isn't great. But maybe that's part of the message for them to be like superficial in the way they talk. But I'm not gonna give them that much credit there.
ryley: I'm not gonna say that was planned.
kat: And then she tells Dean that she's like 16 at first and he's like, acknowledges that it's wrong.
ryley: Mm-hmm
kat: and then she asks him, do you wanna go out again? And he's like yeah.
ryley: Well, he tries to kiss her too [00:15:00] in the car.
kat: That too, I don't understand the logic there, but whatever. I get that, like in instances where people know her real age, like don't know her real age and they think she's like a 19 year old
ryley: mm-hmm.
kat: It's like less weird.
ryley: Mm-hmm
kat: but it like doesn't excuse the weirdness, like no model should ever be put in a situation where a photographer, regardless of gender has them.
ryley: Oh yeah.
kat: Like stripped down and makes everybody else who was on the set leave. That's just like a safety risk, regardless of how old the model is.
ryley: And he didn't ask her if that was okay.
kat: No.
ryley: He didn't ask her what she wanted to do or what was comfortable with. No.
kat: Exactly. It was just like, that's another thing with like what you were saying earlier where it's like, you think that men would be the villain here, but like nothing, nothing like nothing happens outside- out of that. And it's like, it's not that I want something bad like that to happen to her but like, if you're going to emphasize men doing these creepy things, but it never- Okay that's what it is. They're creepy, but they never fully act it out on her.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: Dean's supposed to be their voice of reason. He's doing the creepiest stuff of all. He knows how old she is.
ryley: Mm-hmm
kat: and he's still pursuing her [00:16:00] romantically. Visually this movie's gorgeous.
ryley: Oh yeah.
kat: And then I initially liked it when I watched it the first time, because I was 16
ryley: mm-hmm
kat: and I was focused more on like the, no, I was like 17, but like, I was focused more on the, like the visual aspect of it and how pretty it was. And like, you know, when you're a teenager, it's like, oh, it's, it's got something slightly fucked up? That means it's good.
ryley: yeah.
kat: I also like wanted to be a cinematographer. I was a photographer, so I was just like taking visual inspiration from it. At this point, I, I I don't think that cancels anything out. Like it doesn't cancel out the bad plot or the bad, bad writing, or the lack of a message that's like concrete.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: You know, I ignored it then, but I can't ignore it now.
ryley: Yeah.
kat: And then I said this already, it reminds me of Ingrid goes west, but it's like, another thing is like, I had to skip past scenes like I did with Ingrid Goes West, cuz like with Ingrid Goes West, it was just like second hand embarrassment
ryley: Yeah.
kat: With this one, it was just like, I'm uncomfortable.
ryley: Mm-hmm
kat: like I have to skip past the part where, with the photo shoot sometimes when I watch this. Like, like no nudity is shown, but it's like [00:17:00] so tense and that's what pissed me off it's like, you're building up all this tension like something really bad is about to happen to her, but you're showing that nothing actually did, no matter what your intention was, to me that's you saying, like, oh, there's really nothing to be scared of. Like men aren't the scariest thing out there.
ryley: Yeah. No, that's what this movie kinda was saying it's like oh, there are- women,
kat: women are worse.
ryley: Women could eat you. I was like, no.
kat: Yeah. But is there anything else you wanted to mention?
ryley: Uh, yes. I forgot to mention one thing. So the makeup in the movie um, there were a lot of makeup scenes where it, well, first off the photo shoot one, it just looked like clown makeup to me. But also like I realized like how smudgy it was and like, I remember like Jesse, when she put on makeup at the end, right before she's killed.
kat: She's just fucking like a toddler with a.
ryley: Yeah, exactly.
kat: Maybe that was a thing too.
ryley: And maybe it was. It almost looked like in some scenes too I didn't see it until some scenes. It looked like bruises almost like bruising.
kat: Okay. Yeah.
ryley: I don't know. I doubt that
kat: I get what you mean.
ryley: You know, like smudge.
kat: Might not have been [00:18:00] intentional, but I get what you mean.
ryley: It might not been intentional, but like I kept seeing it. I was like, it looks like distress makeup, you know, like some, like something happened.
kat: The hair and makeup supervisor. I, I'm not gonna take any credit away from them. That could have been something that they intentionally were doing.
ryley: Mm-hmm
kat: but I don't know. I. I didn't see anything about the makeup, so I didn't know.
ryley: Right.
kat: Okay. So that was that the only other thing?
ryley: That was the only other thing.
kat: Let's move on to the critic reviews. The first one I have is from Out Magazine and is written by Armond White and is titled "lesbians in fashion, is it camp or chic?" And this was written in 2016 and starts with quote, "for a movie about fashionable lesbian revenge, the Neon Demon sure is creepy." End quote.
ryley: Okay.
kat: Um, Ruby is the return of like the predatory lesbian stereotype, which is kind of what I was hinting out with the like.
ryley: Yeah.
kat: You know, cuz it's
ryley: mm-hmm
kat: yeah, like trying to scare women off from having more masculine air about them or.
ryley: Right.
kat: Quote, acting like men, you know, that kind of thing.
ryley: Mm-hmm
kat: and then quote, "reducing gay Ruby to a fend and Jesse [00:19:00] to an unlikeable, if pretty, victim doesn't mean the film is homophobic," but the emphasis on girlish, treachery and foolishness seems misogynistic.
ryley: No, I totally get that.
kat: And this writer describes the mean models as quote "Cunty without the fun." There's nothing redeeming about them. They're just mean.
ryley: Oh, I love that. That's a good one.
kat: And then that this movie lacks insight into the racial, global cultural competition of the industry. So there's like more to it than just having the look.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: In the industry. There's other things that people are fighting past and like trying to work through and. And then ends the review with quote, "the Neon Demon, cheapens fashion and femininity," end quote.
ryley: I agree.
kat: I try. Yeah. I tried to find more like analysis and critique ones.
ryley: Right.
kat: Cause I feel like this movie needs that a little more.
ryley: Yeah.
kat: So the next review is from flick direct was written by Allison Rose in 2016, who gave it a three outta five or the website also said that they gave it a C. Starting with quote, [00:20:00] "while we all know modeling and high fashion are hard industries with lots of backstabbing and manipulation, Refn's take is more surreal and unnerving." End quote. They mentioned that Fanning is perfectly cast and that she quote, "portrays an innocence that is necessary but at times she displays a certain arrogance that is fitting of a gorgeous young woman." End quote. As well as Malone being good at balancing the creepy and sincere, sincere aspects of her character.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: Um, and then mentioning that Keanu Reeves was underused. And I would also say that Christina Hendricks was underused.
ryley: She was mm-hmm.
kat: We didn't need Dean. I feel like she could have been the voice of reason.
ryley: I, I wish she was that's that's that's my whole thing. I should, there could have been a voice of reason, not by a man in this movie.
kat: Would've gotten the message across a little better. Uh, they also feel that the eighties sci-fi feeling of the score was distracting from the film's sinister tone. Also mentioning that it's not for mass audiences.
ryley: No.
kat: And the film had moments where the author was befuddled and annoyed by the movie. And commentary was [00:21:00] there, but the delivery was quote, "a little too far off the mainstream for me to truly enjoy," end quote. And ends the review with, "at times it makes the audience pity, all those in the sorted game, but at other times, it just makes you wonder what the director was thinking." End quote.
ryley: Yeah.
kat: I, yeah. Yeah, that's a good, that's a good way to put it. So the next review is from borrowing tape by Carmen Wong and was written in 2016. And Wong gave this a four out of five. Starting with quote, "for better or for worse this is a film whose cup runneth over with visceral and resting imagery," end quote. Um, and then says that the character and stories are undeveloped and the dialogue is stilted, but the visuals make up for it, which I I've already disagreed with.
ryley: Yeah.
kat: Then they say that Refn lets references in iconography, do the heavy lifting and may fall flat for some viewers. So like the, the references of the industry and stuff are really carrying what's going on in the movie and like someone's knowledge of the industry and how it works [00:22:00] is going to carry them through it more than his filmmaking.
ryley: Oh.
kat: Basically is that's how I'm
ryley: yeah.
kat: interpreting that.
ryley: Definitely. Yeah.
kat: Doesn't have anything new to say about unhealthy obsessions with beauty. And ends the review with quote, "for any woman who has struggled with notions of beauty, which is all of us in one way or another, there are parts of the Neon Demon that will resonate deeply. Jesse will get devoured, but not in the way you might think. At the end of the day, the Neon Demon is a spin on old ideas, but its execution is though not perfect, a solid effort." End quote .
ryley: S- I would cry if someone go, that was a really good effort to make a movie.
kat: I feel like when men write about women and they don't completely alienate and offend all women, they just get a little gold star on the forehead.
ryley: Like. Yeah. Honestly. Yeah.
kat: Mm.
ryley: I think this, this, the critic, like literally did say like this movie's not strong, but it looks nice. So therefore , uh, I don't, I don't think it's that I don't. Yeah like you said.
kat: You can, you can critique both sides of it, you know?
ryley: Yeah.
kat: They [00:23:00] did. They did.
ryley: It's a pretty movie. Yes, absolutely. A hundred percent, but it doesn't make it a good movie.
kat: Yeah. I can't see anyone above the age of like high school or early college would see this movie and still think it's good just based on the visuals. But if you're only into visual in movies, that's, that's a more power to you. You'll enjoy it.
ryley: Then you'll- Yeah. No kidding.
kat: This next review is from Salon and is written by Andrew O'Hehir and was titled, "is Neon Demon gruesome misogyny or brilliant feminist commentary? Can it be both?" This was written in 2016. Starting with quote, "modern day Brothers Grimm fable that unfolds in rooms where black magic is performed," End quote. Says that the movie is deliberately disorienting. And when referring to how the movie is, is about empty space, O'Hare claims quote, "if the symbolism seems way too obvious that's because Refn doesn't even see it as symbolism. He sees it as empty space fields of light and color and darkness."End quote.
ryley: Hm.
kat: If, if you got a message from anything with.
ryley: No. Yeah. For- that's not- it wasn't [00:24:00] intended. You made it up.
kat: And then mentions that some people complain that the movie slides too far into Italian Giallo horror like I mentioned, it has the, the elements of it and that it's like the gruesomeness from that era.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: Carried over and some people don't like that and that's fine.
ryley: Yeah. I don't- that doesn't have to be a negative thing necessarily.
kat: Refn did choose to work with female writers, Stenham and Laws as well as Natasha Braier as cinematographer. So he still doesn't dive too deep into voyeur- the voyeuristic nature of male filmmaking, exploring female beauty and rivalry. It's less creepy because women helped him work on it essentially is what I'm getting from that.
ryley: I, there were scenes of the movie where I'm like a man made this movie.
kat: Yes.
ryley: I could tell a man made this movie.
kat: Did you send me that TikTok? Or was it me who sent it to you? It was like the moment I that something's made by a man. I stop enjoying it.
ryley: Yes, no, literally like that, I knew, I knew a man had directed this, wrote and direct this movie, but there were scenes where it just popped [00:25:00] like a man made this. So I was like, okay. Hmm.
kat: Hmm. And this writer ends the review with, "it can be both brilliant feminist commentary and misogynist soft core porn because those two things aren't mutually exclusive." Sure, sure.
ryley: Sure. I don't, I don't, I don't have anything to say.
kat: We'll move on to the, the most, like dig into this movie review. This was written on Vox and was written by Kayleigh Hughes, titling it, "the Neon Demon tries to both fetishize and vilify young girls. It fails." And this was written in 2016. Quote, "it's a film about women made by a man that misunderstands and misinterprets women on every level." End quote. And then says that Refn tells a story about the confusingness of girlhood and the fashion industry, but fails to touch on anything close to the truth.
ryley: Absolutely.
kat: And that neither the film nor Refn seem to understand young women. And that Jesse is a wounded man's idea of a 16 year old girl.
ryley: Damn. I, I don't know what that means. Wounded [00:26:00] man. What is?
kat: Either something happened to you or you just like something's.
ryley: Okay.
kat: Not clicking up there.
ryley: Okay.
kat: And then says that Ruby's decision throughout the film, decisions throughout the film, undermine her character work and damage queer representation in media.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: Christina Hendrick's character is solid, but her inclusion was too brief. The dialogue of the models doesn't sound like anything that the writers heard come out of a woman's mouth ever.
ryley: Yeah. Yep.
kat: The Neon Demon treats false narratives about attractive women being dangerous because they're a threat to, to men, but also inviting these ideas in as universal truths and makes it like difficult to take seriously, like saying that a woman being beautiful is dangerous because it distracts men.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: And it's basically saying. It, it it's along the lines of like, well, what was she wearing?
ryley: Exactly. And that's what I was talking earlier about like the demon is narcissism. Like it's the woman's fault that this all happened because she was too narcissistic. It's her fault. It's like, no.
kat: Mm-hmm.
ryley: It's not.
kat: Mm-hmm.
ryley: It's [00:27:00] the industry that men created
kat: this reviewer believes that the visuals do not make up for the narrative and tonal flaws, especially since it relies on shock value.
ryley: Yes.
kat: Yeah. And like you, did you notice how the first half of the movie it's pretty normal?
ryley: As normal as it can be? Yeah. Yeah.
kat: And then like once Sarah starts trying to eat her hand,
ryley: Yeah.
kat: That's when it shifts into this, like what the fuck is happening. They believe that transition between those two tones wasn't graceful or logical. And also mentions the Lolita reference to a like that Hank makes to a 13 year old g-.
ryley: Yeah.
kat: Yeah. To a 13 year old about- to Dean he's telling Dean this. And that Hanks grotesqueness towards Jesse is. Completely dropped for girl on girl, body horror right around the time his behavior escalates.
ryley: Absolutely.
kat: It's yeah. It's, it's pretty much every what we've been saying. Like.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: Women are the scariest thing in this movie. But also says, quote, "you'd be tempted to call Hank caricature, if not for the upsetting truth that men exactly like him are plentiful in the real world," end quote.
ryley: Oh yeah. He's an accurate [00:28:00] character. Absolutely.
kat: His character doesn't seem outlandish. That's what's.
ryley: No, that's the whole thing. I thought, if anything, he's the most realistic character in this movie, unfortunately.
kat: And then, you know, just to echo something we've already said, they also say the cruelties women inflict on each other are portrayed as worse by the movie. And mistakenly believes women control the fashion world and the world at large.
ryley: No.
kat: And Refn, based on the interviews that he he's given about the film, doesn't see the issue with an underage girl participating in her own exploitation. And that quote, "the Neon Demon's chief argument is that a 16 year old girl believing she's beautiful is a crime of hubris that deserves punishment by death. Refn and his films are right: danger goes hand in hand with being a teen girl, just not in the way that Refn thinks," end quote.
ryley: That was probably the most, probably most elegant way I could have listed why I didn't like this movie.
kat: Mm-hmm.
ryley: Because of those, literally everything they pointed out.
kat: Yeah. On top of all of that, like the plot sucks. The dialogue's terrible. Like.
ryley: Yeah.
kat: The music doesn't match. Like that [00:29:00] just adds to the fact that there's no message as well. Like I was saying earlier with like Ingrid goes west. That movie's gorgeous. It's a beautiful movie.
ryley: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
kat: Does it make up for anything? No.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: It doesn't. Just being alive as a teenage girl is dangerous because the whole world is dangerous.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: And it's not your fault. It's the world.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: But in this one, it's like you gave into the narcissism of being beautiful. So it's dangerous.
ryley: Exactly. Like you did this to your, like you said, like you, it's almost like the message you.
kat: What was she wearing?
ryley: What, yeah, exactly. You deserve this, you deserved what ended up happening too. It's like, oh my God.
kat: Exactly. Exactly. Do you have any other thoughts based on what the critics have said?
ryley: No, I just love the last one cuz it, it perfectly encapsulates what I thought.
kat: Yes. Okay. So are you ready to move on to audience?
ryley: Yes.
kat: Okay. Let's start with a 10 outta 10.
ryley: Okay.
kat: This is from IMDB and is from 2019 and is titled "psychological horror slash thriller!" "This movie is not for everyone. If you're going to watch it, I'm already telling you to keep your brain [00:30:00] open to understand what's going on. If you didn't understood what's happening, it will be boring as hell for you. It's not a general horror movie, which is gonna tell you it's story in a straightforward way. You have to use your mind to understand it. Also to people who didn't understand please don't rate it then or give it negative reviews. You people are only spoiling the reputation of the movie. It's an amazing psychological movie. I would recommend it to everyone for sure!" Did Nicolas winning Refn write this?
ryley: First of all, don't tell me what to do.
kat: Shut the fuck up.
ryley: Guess what I'm gonna do now? I'm I'm literally gonna go on there and leave a negative review.
kat: Mm-hmm.
ryley: That's stupid. And also it's like saying like, oh, if you didn't understand this, maybe just, you're just not smart enough to do this. Like, no, there's literally nothing to understand this movie besides literally what it's saying, literally what it's portraying.
kat: I think not liking it has nothing to do with understanding it.
ryley: I understood in the movie.
kat: You did.
ryley: And I didn't like what I ended up understanding about the movie. That's the whole point.
kat: Yeah. It was a mistake for me to understand this movie. YOU didn't understand [00:31:00] it.
ryley: No kidding. Oh my God. I'll be right back I'm gonna go leave a bad review.
kat: I just hear you typing in the background.
ryley: Ferocious typing.
kat: Fuck you. So let's move on to the first negative review. This is a half star from Letterboxd from August of 2016. That says: "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 don't think men are capable of critiquing the cult of beauty in any meaningful way and I think this is straight up evil, misogynistic trash."
ryley: Well, it's like literally what they said. Like, I don't think men are capable of critiquing the cult of beauty in a meaningful way. Like I think. Perfectly encapsulates like why I think this movie just didn't do well for me.
kat: It, which is so funny to me because men are the ones that uphold and. What the beauty standard is.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: Like, they're the ones that came up with this beauty standard. You don't know how to critique your own work.
ryley: Yeah, exactly.
kat: Okay. So we'll move on to the next one, which is a one outta 10 from IMDB from [00:32:00] 2020, titled "visually striking nothing more." "This art house film is difficult to describe without giving away the whole thing. The vivid colors and contrasts are appealing, but for me it ends. The plot is thinly veiled, and the story could have been told within a 30 minute TV episode, it drags her over an hour before it gets to the little bit of story. This movie just doesn't have any elements of humanity or value. It is pretentious and almost condescending to watch, as if trying to be coy or sneaky. There's nothing remotely erotic in this film. It's uncomfortable to watch such a story develop around a 16 year old girl, and it's just not entertaining. There are some good actors on screen, but this movie is far below their abilities. In my humble opinion, this movie shouldn't have ever been made."
ryley: Yeah.
kat: I also, I don't understand the thing about the erotic, the erotic part.
ryley: I don't know what they meant by that.
kat: Okay. I think they mean like none of the sex is erotic. Nothing sexual in the movie that happens is ever erotic.
ryley: Oh no, it shouldn't be .
kat: Which is, [00:33:00] yeah, exactly.
ryley: It shouldn't be, no.
kat: It seems like a reductive message like that, the idea that women don't enjoy sex.
ryley: Who's saying that?
kat: Like the movie, like there's no, noone's enjoying sex at any point in this movie.
ryley: Well, okay. That lady, that lady in the morgue did though.
kat: yes, but it, but her enjoying sex is either pursuing somebody who doesn't wanna reciprocate.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: Or pursuing somebody who doesn't, who can't reciprocate.
ryley: Who is dead.
kat: the poor-
ryley: who can't
kat: like extra that just had to be like.
ryley: Good- oh God, I, I hated that. That it generally. Ugh.
kat: Yeah.
ryley: Ugh.
kat: But you know what you did. You get what I mean though? Like.
ryley: Oh no, I totally get it. Yeah, absolutely.
kat: But I don't know if that was the intention, but that's how it comes off.
ryley: Mm-hmm. Also this movie, like they made a point of like, this could have been a 30 minute, like episode, it went on for way too long. It did go for way. I don't like movies where they take very, very long shots of someone just like having a slight emotion on screen where basically nothing's happening.
kat: It has to be [00:34:00] like, the emotion being shown is like.
ryley: Like somethings happening.
kat: It could express itself like.
ryley: They're doing something.
kat: Yeah. Like you're angrily cutting something up, like you're chopping vegetables and you're, you're mad. Okay. That's that's story. Okay. I'm getting.
ryley: That's something.
kat: Because there's a difference between having a character show emotion, just cause, and having a character show emotion because it's character motivated.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: Like it's two different things.
ryley: Right.
kat: I don't know if that made any sense, but it made sense up here.
ryley: I think I know what you're talking about. Yeah.
kat: Yeah.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: Okay. So the next one, I have one outta 10 titled "worst movie ever" from 2017. "The writer and director should be put behind bars. I'm not sure how," could anyone, "could anyone have voted positively for such a film? There have been other bad films that inexplicably received good reviews. So I believe the film industry wants to convince people into watching them and therefore, a lot of these reviews slash votes must be fake." but I just liked, they should behind bars, jail [00:35:00] immediately.
ryley: I, I just love how they're they're like any positive reviews probably fake. They probably paid for . I love that. That's a huge accusation. Love it.
kat: You overestimate pretentious film lovers.
ryley: No kidding. Yeah.
kat: Like
ryley: They're out there.
kat: The neon, like neon lighting era of movies, people that was.
ryley: Oh my God, they went crazy for it.
kat: So next review 2021 Letterboxd and it's titled, "films that are," better off- be- "better off muted. Dominating by an evocative palette of exceedingly high saturated red and blue colors, the Neon Demon tests Nicolas Winding Refn's aesthetic pursuit by revealing collected shots that go outside the limitations of haute couture glamor. It proudly features the superficial side of the world that's filled with brutality and jealousy while simultaneously exposing the futility of the fashion industry in the emptiest and coldest way possible. It's a self-" end., "Indulgent and pretentious as it can be."
ryley: Because, uh, did you ever see, he may drive and like only God forgives?
kat: I think I have, [00:36:00] yeah.
ryley: Movies messed up, but like, there's hard, talk about a movie with no dialogue. That movie does not have dialogue, like even a little bit. So I think it, yeah, a lot.
kat: Yeah.
ryley: I think a lot his movies are pretentious. Not, not to call him out, not to call him out, but.
kat: Yeah, no, they, they are like, it's somebody has to make the pretentious ones, I guess.
ryley: I did like drive though.
kat: Yeah. And, oh, I had a thought .
ryley: Oh, did you?
kat: I did surprise.
ryley: Yay!
kat: Um, nevermind. Um, okay. The next one, um, one outta 10, 2019 IMDB. "Elle Fanning is beautiful, but did Jena Malone really need to have sex with the corpse? That spitting into the corpse mouth and sucking it back up was truly disgusting. When the model started retching, I started retching, thanks for that, then I continued then I continued to sympathy retch while she puked up the eyeball and then the other girl picks it up out of the puke and swallows it. Why was Keanu Reeves," in this horrible, "in this horrible movie, playing a disgusting character. The neon lights were [00:37:00] migraine inducing and also," made, "made little sense in the scheme of things. I realized the person making it was colorblind, but the flashing light, the flashing neon just was just not necessary." Nicolas Winding Refn is color blind- color blind, and that's.
ryley: Oh, I didn't know that.
kat: That's why his movies are so vibrantly colored.
ryley: I didn't know that.
kat: Yeah.
ryley: That is interesting. They, I mean, they are. Beautiful movies.
kat: Mm-hmm.
ryley: I do like how this person does like, literally talk about the disgusting parts of the movie.
kat: Yes.
ryley: And they're disgusting just to be disgusting. So I'm glad they, someone called that out.
kat: Yeah.
ryley: Specifically. That's really nice that they did that.
kat: Cause I think one of the critic extensions that like half of the shit that's visual is for shock value, not.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: Because it's.
ryley: Anything meaningful.
kat: Exactly. Yeah. The next one I have is from 2019 from Letterboxd and is three and a half stars. And it says, "Nicolas Winding Refns films are always really good until the characters start saying things."
ryley: That's a good one. Yeah.
kat: And then the next one is also from Letterboxd, but it's from 2016 and is one star and says, "can anyone [00:38:00] confirm that Refn has actually met a person?"
ryley: God, that's funny.
kat: Yes. Okay. Back to IMDB 2021. Weird and sick bad combination. Maybe they were going for something that I just didn't get. And then they have Keanu Reeves, one of the biggest movie stars in the world, showing up as a sleazy hotel manager. Which just adds to the weirdness of the movie. You don't see the character, you just see Keanu. He's a movie star! Even in the context of the character he's miscast. An incredibly good looking guy is a sleazy hotel manager. Yeah, right. But Elle Fanning,"
ryley: I love this.
kat: "But Elle fanning is quite good and the movie is nice to look at. But the weirdness! In one scene, a Cougar shows up in a hotel room in Pasadena and the filmmakers didn't bother to follow up on that. No resolution, whatsoever! Therefore the audience has to assume that cougars are just wandering around Pasadena, looking for a place to hang out. Weird. All that weirdness, I'm okay with, but the movie gets sick. So sick that I wish that I never saw the movie. If there was a message in Neon Demon, it's simple: [00:39:00] if you're a young, beautiful girl and want to go to the big city and become a model, don't go alone."
ryley: Oh, that's, that's a good, that's a good advice.
kat: Mm-hmm.
ryley: Good advice.
kat: Mm-hmm.
ryley: Um, I love how the first half of this is that they didn't like that Keanu was, how he was casted, which is
kat: second,
ryley: cuz he,
kat: the second person to say that.
ryley: I love that. Cuz I was also bothered by it. Cuz I got really excited when I saw his name. I was like, oh Keanu reeves is, and he's like the worst character ever. And it is upsetting.
kat: To the movie he's not.
ryley: No, no. He's like he plays it good.
kat: Plays a disgusting human being.
ryley: Yeah horrible, horrible, like horrible character.
kat: Yeah.
ryley: Or person. Because he is never the bad guy.
kat: No.
ryley: I can't think of another movie where he is a bad guy. He's always the good guy. So it's really horrible when he goes full bad guy modein this movie.
kat: Yes.
ryley: It's the worst villain you can think of or the worst person you can think that he could play.
kat: Because it's not like unthinkable villainy. It's like real world villainy.
ryley: Oh yeah. That's an actual, those are this an [00:40:00] actual people like that.
kat: Yeah.
ryley: And it's just awful. It's awful to think.
kat: Not Keanu, like.
ryley: Not Keanu. No. I just love that. I just love how they were upset that Keanu plays a bad character, or like a bad person in this movie that makes me laugh.
kat: Why would you even ask him?
ryley: That's that's a funny critique. I like that one.
kat: It is.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: Okay. So the next one I have is from Google reviews. One star from five months ago. "I felt like it had something in the first half of the movie. It portrays how the modeling agencies treat their models, how some, not all, photographers are creepy and will take advantage of new young models and how competitive the modeling world is especially as models get older. All good motivators for character development. However,"
ryley: Yeah that's oh, sorry go ahead.
kat: Do you have something to say?
ryley: No, that's what I thought too. Like I thought this movie was gonna, I thought it was gonna lead out to something meaningful and like.
kat: Yeah.
ryley: But yeah.
kat: "However, it got bad instantly in the second half. There was no nudity and in the second half of the movie, it was all female nudity. It was all perverted fantasy from making young [00:41:00] girls gag with a knife in their mouth, to necrophilia, to lesbian shower scenes, etc. Finally to top off the last 15 minutes of the movie: cannibalism, vomiting, to suicide, to more cannibalism, which was all unnecessary and gives no plot. This movie was supposed to be dark slash edgy, but that really works when there is originality and meaning behind the imagery."
ryley: Absolutely. That was right on the nose.
kat: You can't, you can't just do shock value without reason every moment of the movie, like I get one or two to like get people in seats, but like.
ryley: The whole movie, really?
kat: The whole time?
ryley: The whole time?
kat: Okay. So this next one is from IMDB from 2017 titled, "so bad style over substance, yet again from Nicolas Winding Refn."
ryley: Ooh. They called his name out.
kat: Government name. "Please, Nicolas Winding Refn needs to take screen writing classes."
ryley: I don't know, maybe.
kat: "It seems he only took cinematography courses before he became a director. We get it he understands pretty visuals. Story [00:42:00] is absolutely horrible. The ending is something out of a cheap horror film. I don't know if we're supposed to be shocked or laughing. He is probably trying to please the weird art house crowd, but he is no David Lynch, this is nowhere near the brilliance or level of Mullholland Dr. And I thought his other movie Only God forgives was bad. Nicolas Winding Refn seems to be consistent in all his films with the same formula. He runs out of ideas and the ending always deals with some cop out sadistic grotesque blood bath. His movie Drive probably had the most potential, but he just doesn't know where he's going with these films. Why even have Keanu Reeves?!? Even in an interview, Keanu asked the director what was the deal with all the random triangle and everything in the film and the director couldn't even answer it. It's just random, there is no meaning. I'm pretty sure deep down inside Keanu is also thinking what the hell was the point of this movie?"
ryley: I love that people keep bringing him up. Like, why is Keanu in here?
kat: What is America's sweetheart Keanu Reeves doing in this movie?
ryley: I, well, like this person's right on the nose cuz like you [00:43:00] even said, like the ending was improvised.
kat: Mm-hmm.
ryley: So yeah, there, this movie does have no meaning.
kat: Yeah.
ryley: Like it, it has no meaning whatsoever and it it's just blatent.
kat: I'm not giving them credit, but like they could have just made this up on the spot when they were asked the three triangles, like, you know, like try everything comes with like threes and fives.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: And like, that's like a demon thing. And like mm-hmm, , there's three triangles when she's on the runway. Like that's an, like a nod to 666, like mocking the holy Trinity.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: Demon shit.
ryley: He could have just said that he could have just made that up.
kat: I just gave it to you right there. Come on, dude.
ryley: Yeah, no kidding.
kat: To not be able to tell an actor what the meaning is.
ryley: It's kind of embarrassing. Not gonna lie.
kat: It's very embarrassing.
ryley: Not saying everything in a movie has to mean something, but. I don't know when you make it a point when you make that whole scene five minutes long about triangles, don't you think- don't you think it should mean a little, some? I mean, five minutes of that [00:44:00] scene, like that, that was like a five minute scene. It should mean something.
kat: It took me two sentences to come up with something.
ryley: Yeah, no kidding. You just, you thought of one on the spot just now.
kat: Like, I didn't even think that when I was watching it, like it, it just, duh, um. Anyway, back to Letterboxd with a two and a half star review from 2021. "After carelessly flouncing around in my watch list for ages, I went for it and can honestly say that I'm still none the wiser. The Neon Demon lives somewhere in the void between entirely self-indulgent Refn edgelord-ism and slick vampalicious beauty. The score is bland. The set design is interesting. The visuals are stunning. The script is uber meh. The women are limp. The men are douche bags. 50/50. ciquante-cinquante. Nope, I just can't tell, so I'm just gonna sit on the fence with this one."
ryley: That's fair. That's fair to say.
kat: I don't even know what to think.
ryley: Yeah. That's yeah. That's the whole thing.
kat: Yeah.
ryley: I totally get that. Like if you, [00:45:00] if you, this movie is a lot of, uh, nothing.
kat: Yeah.
ryley: So.
kat: Yeah, it is. Okay. So the next review I have is our last negative review. It's a one star from Google reviews from six months ago. And says, "this movie is basically just a very long porn intro. Nothing happens at the first half of the movie, other than pedophile sniffing the me, the main character and the other half is just weird porn. I guess the real message of this movie is whoever wrote this should be in jail."
ryley: That's the second person.
kat: Well it's because he's writing a minor in these situations.
ryley: Yeah, it's pretty. Yeah.
kat: Yeah.
ryley: Oh yeah.
kat: The last review I have is a 10 outta 10 from IMDB from 2016. Titled "breathtaking." "I am completely overwhelmed by this film. There are so many good things about it. Firstly, it is very soothing to the eyes. The cinematography is on the spot, even though the movie doesn't have a big narrative, it doesn't really need more than it offers. Less is more in this case. The cast is well chosen too, of course. I think it was smart to send the message via a movie like this, fairy like and horror [00:46:00] like though this is more of a mental horror than anything else. But it was a well chosen decision in my taste. I would only enjoy it to be a bit faster overall. It just went too slow."
ryley: I do not agree.
kat: Yeah.
ryley: It is slow. I will agree with that one critique but everything else, no.
kat: It's a lot of nothing. Um.
ryley: It's a lot of nothing.
kat: Because like they, they said it doesn't have a big narrative, but it doesn't really need to give you more than it offers. What is it offering though?
ryley: Yeah, that's the whole thing. And they said, uh, less is more and I- that should not be said for this, this movie.
kat: Not the message they were going for.
ryley: No.
kat: No. What's your rating. What are your closing thoughts?
ryley: I will never rewatch this movie. There's no need for it.
kat: Yeah.
ryley: There's no de- no need to ever see it again.
kat: Mm-hmm.
ryley: I don't know, I'm debating whether to give it a one or not. It is pretty, I'll give it two points for pretty, so let's say two stars, two out of ten.
kat: Okay.
ryley: Eh- I don't know. That might seem a little hot. What are you gonna read it?
kat: I was gonna say like a two outta 10. I think it-
ryley: Okay.
kat: You know, the actors are really, I think they're [00:47:00] doing their best and.
ryley: They're doing their best with what they got. You know.
kat: Visually it's very pretty, like, I think a lot of movies followed suit with.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: This not to say that it inspired every movie with neon lights, but I think it was a good use of them.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: But other than that, it's, it's an empty movie where a man is trying to make commentary on how beauty standards are forced on women and how it makes them act.
ryley: Oh, yeah, absolutely. It's just irritating. This movie is very irritating.
kat: Yes.
ryley: Um.
kat: I think that just sums it up. It's.
ryley: Yeah.
kat: If you know, if you don't give a shit about it being a real message, you might find something in there.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: But like once you just take any sort of criticism towards the movie, it kind of falls apart.
ryley: Mm-hmm.
kat: That's really all have. I. That's all I have.
ryley: Yeah, me too.
kat: Yeah. Okay. Well, watch this movie. If you wanna see it and see how pretty it is, let us know what you think. Let us know if you have any suggestions, you can reach us at our Instagram and TikTok at easy bake takes. And thank you so much for listening. This has [00:48:00] been easy bake takes. My name is Kat,
ryley: and I'm Ryley.
kat: Easy watching out there. Bye.
ryley: Bye.