The psychological horror film The Neon Demon isn’t about a literal demon. It’s a movie about rivalry between runway models in Los Angeles, but there isn’t a great deal of story. And what story is told doesn’t really make sense. Sixteen-year-old Jesse, who should probably technically be an orphan, has made her way to LA because all she has is her prettiness. Some photos get to an agency that agrees to hire her. The other young women become jealous of the attention Jesse receives. Only one, Ruby, a make-up artist, befriends her. The jealous models confront her, and the creepy hotel manager where she stays seems to prey on the women who are trying to break into the dream of the city of angels. Jesse escapes to Ruby but Ruby’s interested in a sexual relationship that Jesse doesn’t want. Ruby and two rival models kill Jesse and eat her. This leads to the death of Ruby and one of the models.
Some of what I describe here is speculative since there are abstract, dream sequences thrown in and it’s not always clear what is going on. I kept finding myself wondering if this was horror, as presented in the list where I found it. The unrelenting male gaze could be considered horror for women, but the movie doesn’t take up that narrative. There are a few male characters, and one of them actually seems to be a good guy, but the threat comes from the other women. Reviews for the movie were deeply polarized. Some declared it one of the best movies of the year (2016) while others gave it abysmal ratings. At the box office it earned about half its budget back, and that budget was a respectful seven figures.
Horror is a difficult genre to define. I keep coming back to the fact that it’s artificial. The history of the term began with monster movies but eventually other films with dark themes were included. Some have no monsters unless a human acting aberrantly counts (and some do count such as monsters). Slashers have their serial killers and gothic tales have their haunted houses. Well over seventy sub-genres of horror have been defined. Casting about for freebies on the weekend leads to some that you just can’t pin down. Neon Demon does, ultimately seem to fit the label, but many viewers will probably wonder exactly how. Being out on your own can be frightening, and cannibalism is creepy, so I’ll go with that.
