The Neon Demon hit Blu-ray last week and it still easily ranks in my top ten films of the year. Nicholas Winding Refn’s take on the narcissism of LA infused with a healthy dose of horror is a film that definitely improves on subsequent viewings. The film for me is the perfect convergence of the director’s genre influences and his newly emerging visually intensive storytelling style. Since I’ve reviewed the film before, I am going to delve a bit deeper into some of the themes and symbolism seen in The Neon Demon.

You can read my original review here.

For those that haven’t see the film if follows Jesse (Elle Fanning) a young girl who moves to LA with big dreams of becoming a model. She’s young, beautiful and has that ethereal “it” that you often hear about. The doors seem to swing right open for her as she is immediately signed with one of the major modeling agencies and begins booking gigs with the best photographers in town. This doesn’t please some of her seniors that have been working the scene far too long to have the new girl simply come in and steal their work. But even they can’t argue that there is just something special about her.


While the film slowly builds the horror narrative at its base, it’s constantly deconstructing beauty and its value in society. The seemingly superficial characters have some weighty discussions about not only how it feels to be one of the lucky ones to win the genetic lottery, but also to know it at your core that you got that golden ticket. The gorgeous visuals, which owe a solid debt to Dario Argento’s Suspiria only add to this surreal fever dream as it plays out with some pretty transgressive set pieces. On repeated viewings the significance of the color pallet, themes and symbolism of The Neon Demon become more apparent in how they affect the characters and the world around them.


The first act is dominated by blues to symbolize the perceived purity and innocence of Jesse, it’s after her first professional photo shoot where she is coated in gold that it is then infused into her character as a symbol of her success. This reaches its pinnacle in the runway scene in a sequence, which splinters off into a very intense Jodorowsky-esque collage of music and imagery. This scene has Jesse completely embracing her narcissism as she finally confronts the tetrahedron that triggers her final ascension as her color palette then shifts from blues to reds. In the commentary included on the disc Refn refers to the tetrahedron she sees throughout the film as “The Neon Demon”.


The design of this entity with its three adjacent triangles represents something referred to as the “perfect solid” in sacred geometry. Plato referred to this door to ascension as “fire” due to acuteness of its angles. We could also view this symbol in terms of the ancient Four Elements as it is also used to represent: water, earth, water and air. But in the film Refn since he has flipped it upside down, so it could be interpreted both as perversion of its power or as a subset of one of the Four Elements.


After the runway scene Jesse is now wearing red, a color previously only seen on Ruby as she delivers a monologue about how her mother knew she was dangerous. She does so on a diving board in an empty pool as Ruby almost lovingly gazes up at her. It’s during her speech that Ruby realizes Jesse is on the cusp of blowing up and this could be her only chance to take her before it would be noticed if she vanished. It’s also important to note after Jesse spurned Ruby’s advance it’s her who pushes Jesse off the ledge back to the bottom. As Jesse lies there dying even her moon has forsaken her in her final moments. The moon, which plays a big part in the film itself is a very feminine symbol, symbolizing immortality and eternity, enlightenment or the dark side of nature herself. This would also explain Ruby’s scene at the end of the film where all of these themes run together as she lays in the moonlight and symbolically gives birth.


One thing I am very surprised about is no one picks the subtle hints to who exactly Ruby is. Of course, most get the very obvious witch angle, but my theory is she is in fact Elizabeth Bathory one of the most notorious female serial killers in history. Bathory believed that by bathing in the blood of virgins she could retain her beauty and live forever. When Jesse comes to Ruby’s home it’s a sprawling mansion that definitely could not be afforded on a makeup artist’s salary alone. I see Ruby’s occupation as a way to seek out beautiful prey that would not be missed if they were to disappear, this would explain her working on smaller as well as larger shoots.


After we finish with Ruby’s ritual we then fast forward a bit to Sarah and Gigi who are both on a job. Jack a photographer who we met earlier in the film, who was taken by Jesse fires his current model after noticing Sarah waiting for Gigi. It is here that an interesting bit comes into play as only Gigi falls ill during the shoot after consuming Jesse. Due to all of her surgery, it’s Sarah who hasn’t altered her body who is able to contain Jesse as Gigi kills herself trying to purge her from her body. The film ends very ambiguously with Sarah walking off into the desert.

The Neon Demon comes with an audio commentary with Refn and Fanning that is simply adorable as Refn spends most of the time interviewing his star on what is was like working in the film given like Jesse she was 16 at the time. Elle is truthful in a way you don’t tend to hear on commentaries and very down to earth as she discusses how it felt tackling the intense material. There’s also an all too brief featurette on the amazing score by Cliff Martinez who has scored every film with Refn since Drive as well a brief EPK piece About the Neon Demon itself. As you would expect the film itself looks and sounds amazing. The colors are lush and the sound invokes the film’s theatrical experience with a very aggressive DTS –HD master audio track.

After parsing through the story and symbolism further, you walk away with a much different take on the film that much like its protagonist, it has a lot going on beneath the surface. It’s a bleak film, but one that has a depth that will leave its mark on the viewer. If you’re a horror fan I can suggest this film enough, give the current state of the genre Refn has done something different and given us a very feminist take on the horror film that still stands as one of my favorite films of the year.