Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘The Neon Demon’

Written by Scott Edwards

Starting a new career is never easy, especially if you don’t know anybody or have zero support in doing so. So many people have a hard time changing jobs for this fact, where they do not feel like they will have the proper backing that they need. It is a hard thing to do, but if you are going to a business where the team must succeed to make money, there will always be someone there to make sure you know what you are doing. If it is an individual career however, you may get the basic training that you require, but everyone else is out there to take that business away from you as quickly as they can.

Arriving in LA to start the next aspect of her life, Jesse comes out of a killer photoshoot covered in blood. Being greeted by Ruby, Jesse sees that she might have made her first friend in the business. Inviting the young model to a party, Jesse meets Ruby’s friends Gigi and Sarah who are also in the industry and wonder what the young girl has that they do not. Being able to get into a model agency meeting with Roberta Hoffmann, the older woman sees that Jesse has ‘it’ and no matter her age, she must always tell everyone that she is nineteen, since it is the golden age for the industry.

Being able to book her first big name job, Jesse beats out Sarah who is not taking the loss well at all. Taking out her frustrations in the bathroom, Jesse shows concern for her friend, but Sarah wants something more from the girl. Slicing her hand with a shard from the broken mirror, Sarah attempts to drink the blood of the young model who has no idea what is going on. Getting back to her apartment and letting her new boyfriend Dean in, who is willing to help out with whatever she needs, Jesse has everything that she wants, but the list of those who desire her quickly continues to grow.

Booking job after job is not a problem, but Jesse is having a hard time in her apartment when she hears the landlord Hank looking for a good time in the middle of the night. Escaping to Ruby’s house for the night, Jesse is come on to by her friend who wants to be so much more with the girl. Not knowing what to think about the advance, Jesse is able to shrug it off, but she knows know what she has become for those around her, along with those in the industry. As each photographer wants her for their shoots, she is what everyone else wants her to be, but her beauty is too much for anyone to avoid, and she finds out that everyone is willing to go the extra mile to just get a taste of what she has.

When watching this movie, I must admit that I was far from blown away, but while writing this review, I think I liked it much more. While I only focused on Jesse in the review, there are other great characters that take you through this artistic journey. I was blown away by Ruby’s character, showing how many jobs she is forced to take to make ends meet while working in the big city and with her intentions shown on the screen, you know there is something much deeper flowing through her. I kind of wish that this same story took place with Gigi and Sarah as they are part of her crew and while you get to see the breakdown moments for each of them, they only seem to follow the leader throughout. Hank was interesting, but I only think it was because he was played by Keanu Reeves, yet he steals some scenes, and the character seems to get off on renting out rooms to the younger crowd. I was taken aback by the self-discovery scene by Jesse during her final show, the moment she found out who and what she was, her character changed on a dime and was ready for anything that could be laid out before her. The way this movie was shot, it could have easily run well over three hours and even though I am against the long running movies, the storyline could have made it work since it really seemed too short. Stay Scared.

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