The Neon Demon (2016, 57%)
Starry Eyes (2014, 75%)
Elle Fanning, the model with no past, arrives in The Neon Demon‘s Los Angeles eager to penetrate
the city’s highest cultural echelon, which involves joining a coven of starlets and Keanu Reeves as a scumbag landlord. Director Nicolas Winding Refn’s film is windy and eager to displease, but worth watching for the splashy vacant visuals and a Cliff Martinez soundtrack that works overtime.
Starry Eyes, also about the L.A. acting scene, is smaller in budget but bigger in cosmic scope, with a notable lead performance from Alex Essoe as the actress who pulls apart and succumbs to the industry’s sinister secret. The occult and cannibalism feature into these movies; they’re still not as far-fetched as La La Land.
