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"Mandy" dir. by Panos Cosmatos


"Mandy" is a weird movie. Let me see if I can unpack this...
First off, it's Nicolas Cage's best performance in years. Being able to feel Cage's pain in a film in a non-funny way is something I have rarely experienced. So kudos to him for that and kudos to Panos Cosmatos for bringing it out of him.
Secondly, it's a beautifully shot film. Visually stunning in its psychedelia and haunting in its imagery. I watched this film in the dark while very stoned and the colours that bled from the screen into my room made me truly feel like I was one within the surreal world of the film.
Thirdly... and this pains me to say... I think I hated this film. As an abstract art film, it's meh. As a revenge film it's meh. As a horror film about a satanic cult (*edit: catholic cult)... it's meh. Not that every film has to have profound meaning but this film didn't bring anything new to the table. It felt to me like a film student's homage to Hellraiser, Enter The Void and all things Jodorowsky with some generic revenge plot holding it together. I saw "Beyond The Black Rainbow" a few years ago and had the same sentiments... Very trippy, very pretty... but no substance.
"Mandy" is awesome if you like the following:
- Neon colours.
- Lens flares.
- Nicolas Cage.
- Weed/Shrooms/LSD
- Small penises.
- Pitch shifted voices.
- Trail effects.
- 80's synth music.
"Mandy" is not awesome if you like the following:
- Plot.
Overall this movie is a trippy experimental film that has Nicolas Cage fighting metallic demons with a battle axe that's shaped like the "F" in the band Celtic Frost's logo. Watch it the whole way through, or just watch a bit of it... or don't watch it at all and just look at the poster... all roads lead to nowhere-ville.
If I had to rate this movie, which I don't... I'd give it a 4/10.
Soundtrack is cool as fuck though, RIP Jóhann Jóhannsson.
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