The Neon Demon
Broad Green Pictures | Release Date: June 24, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
51
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 45 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
17
Negative:
12
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The TelegraphRobbie CollinMay 20, 2016
When the film reaches its logical end point, Refn just keeps pushing, and eventually lands on a sequence so jaw-dropping...that all you can do is howl or cheer. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerJun 24, 2016
Portrayed by a mesmerizing Elle Fanning (Maleficent, Trumbo) in a magnificent, heart-stopping star turn. Read full review
83
HitfixDrew McWeenyJun 23, 2016
The Neon Demon’s going to frustrate anyone who goes in looking for a conventional film or a thriller that has any interest in actually scaring you. This is a ride, a carefully crafted experience, and it is precisely because it is so immersive and controlled that I would recommend it. Read full review
83
ConsequenceMichael RoffmanJun 22, 2016
This is a film predicated on voyeurism, and while it’s arguably another big ol’ starefest from Refn, the viewer’s patience is earned with unquestionable tension made all the more palpable by its troubled protagonist. Read full review
83
The PlaylistJessica KiangMay 20, 2016
Spectacular, gross and delicious (so unsavory it’s almost sweet), the film is more proof of Refn’s mastery of his trash aesthetic and more fun than anything this indulgent and empty-headed has any right to be. Read full review
80
ScreenCrushBritt HayesJun 25, 2016
Set to an electrifying score by frequent Refn collaborator Cliff Martinez (which may be his best yet), The Neon Demon is as deceptive as shattered glass, with a brilliant beauty so mesmerizing that you don’t notice its murderously sharp edges until you’re bleeding all over the floor. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangJun 23, 2016
Languorously paced and literally dressed to kill, the movie is a corrosive attack on beauty — or at least our soulless, corporatized definition of the term — but it is also, above all else, a hypnotically beautiful object. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'HehirJun 22, 2016
If you want a movie that eviscerates “The Hunger” and eats its bloody insides while daring you to look away, here it is. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiJun 22, 2016
He's like the bizarro version of Wes Anderson’s same meticulous attention to detail, but while you can tell Anderson wants to entertain you with a story, Refn is clearly more interested in mood and highly stylized provocation. With The Neon Demon, he more or less succeeds. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezJun 23, 2016
The Neon Demon is a voluptuous provocation, a stylish free-fall down a gonzo rabbit hole that is as entrancing as it is maddening. Here is a rarity in this season of summer movie doldrums: A film that is guaranteed to elicit strong reactions. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Jun 22, 2016
Style doesn’t triumph over substance in The Neon Demon. It devours it. Read full review
70
TimeStephanie ZacharekMay 20, 2016
The Neon Demon isn’t much of movie, at least if you’re looking for an actual story. Nor is it a moralistic fable about the emptiness of Hollywood—if anything, it’s a winking mockery of that sort of thing. But whatever the heck it is, it throws off a chilly, pleasurable sheen. This is visual hard candy. Read full review
67
IndieWireEric KohnMay 20, 2016
While always an amusingly twisted ride, The Neon Demon is marred by pensive stares and monotone monologues about superficial desires that drag on, and on. Fortunately, Refn treasures shock value over all else, and his movie delivers on that promise with a depraved third act. Read full review
64
The VergeTasha RobinsonJun 25, 2016
The heavy threat of sexual assault, physical consumption, and predatory control hangs over the film's treacherous first hour, but once the threat resolves, Neon Demon loses its tension and its power, and then just keeps going. Read full review
63
USA TodayBrian TruittJun 23, 2016
Characters only exist as empty archetypal vessels and some of the wackier elements are laughably campy, but Refn’s sumptuous visuals and disco-synth score help give Neon Demon undeniably sinister style. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsJun 23, 2016
The Neon Demon only works when Refn finds the right middle ground between obliquely hinting at and explicitly spelling out what his movie's about. Read full review
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