The first time we see Elle Fanning in The Neon Demon, Nicolas Winding Refn’s cannibalistic catwalk, she’s reclining on a silk couch in a purple dress, her blonde hair up in an elaborate crown braid and her throat slashed. Colourful gemstones circle her eyes and deep red is streaking all the way from her neck down her arm.
It doesn’t take long for us to figure out this isn’t a crime scene but a fashion shoot. In the next scene, Fanning ritualistically wipes the stage blood away while a makeup artist (Jena Malone) undresses her with her eyes. Malone is the first of several women who will look at Fanning with desire, envy or sheer hatred. In this film, looks don’t just kill. They lacerate, massacre and exterminate.
‘Amateurish’ is the judgment of the modelling agency when they see the blood-streaked test photos sent by Fanning’s Jesse – a small town girl newly arrived in LA with dreams of stardom.
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