The film centers aroundFanning, who stars as amodelnamed Jesse who moves to Los Angeles with hopes of making it big, but her youth and beauty make her a target for a group of beauty andimage obsessedmodels who will do whatever it takes to get what she has. The film serves as a follow up to Refn’s 2013 filmOnly God Forgives, which paired Refn andRyan Goslingtogether for a second time, but the film wasn’t able enjoy the critical and financial success thatDrivehad.The Neon Demonrepresents a departure for Refn, who co-wrote the film with Mary Lewis, and discussed the change with Dazed last year.
“I decided that I’d made enough films about violent men, and I wanted to do a film with only women in the film, and so I did this story because my wife would only go to L.A. if we had to travel out of Copenhagen. She’s like, ‘I’m done with Asia. I will only do Los Angeles.’ And so I came up with an idea and went to L.A., and I cast this woman called Elle Fanning who is absolutely fantastic, and she played the lead.”
The film is set to premiere Friday at Cannes and will be competing for the Palme d’Or, which bothDriveandOnly God Forgivesalso competed for. Refn also re-teamed with composer Cliff Martinez for the film, who previously worked on the soundtrack forDrive. The movie was filmed last year in Los Angeles and had a reported budget of just $7 million, which made it an appealing get for Amazon, as the studio won’t have to bring in a ton at the box office to break even, and horror films seem to always find some sort of audience.
Refn has yet to announced what his next feature directorial effort will be, but it was recently announced that he will be serving as a producer on a remake of the Vincent Price filmWitchfidner General, which was retitledThe Conqueror Wormin the U.S. The original film was directed by Michael Reeves, who helped to get Refn’s debut filmPusherreleased. No word yet on who will be directing the film.
The Neon DemonstarsElle Fanning,Jena Malone,Abbey Lee,Christina Hendricks,Bella HeathcoteandKeanu Reeves. The film will be available through Amazon and is getting a theatrical release on June 24, though it is unknown yet just how wide the release will be. The film’s teaser trailer is out now and be sure to stay tuned for more updates as the release date gets nearer. Do you plan on seeingThe Neon Demon?
