Mandy (2018) Review

"You are a vicious snowflake."
-Red Miller



Red Miller (Nicolas Cage) lives with his girlfriend, Mandy (Andrea Riseborough), in a fairly reclusive lifestyle in the woods.  One night, they are attacked by a group of hippie-cultists, led by Jeremiah Sand (Linus Roache), who brutally murders Mandy.  Red embarks on a brutal and insane journey to kill the cultists and avenge Mandy.


What Works:

Mandy is perhaps the most bonkers movie I have ever seen.  I cannot understate how insane this film is.  What keeps it at least mildly grounded is Nicolas Cage.  He gives one his best performances as a normal guy driven to insanity.  We get plenty of Crazy-Cage, but we really understand his motivation and we're rooting for him.  He's a very likable character amidst all of the ultra-violence.

The style for this movie is fantastic with insane lighting and shot competition.  It's certainly unique.  I've never seen a film do stuff like this.  It's pretty fantastic and leaves an impression.

The score is one of the last done by Jóhann Jóhannsson, who died back in February.  It's truly an amazing score and reminds me a lot of Stranger Things.  I'm a sucker for this kind of music and this score adds a lot to the film.

The gore in Mandy is over-the-top, just how I like it.  There are some truly brutal and zany kills as Cage takes down cultists and demon bikers.  The second half of the film really ups the gore-levels and they do not disappoint in the slightest.


What Sucks:

The only complaint I have with this movies is in regard to the first half, which is much slower paced than the second, which is fine.  The problem comes from how weird the first half is.  They use the same style and bizarreness the second half does.  I like how this makes the film look aesthetically, but this weirdness makes it very hard to connect to Red and Mandy until she is killed.  It's hard to be emotionally invested in a movie like this when it's so weird out the gate.  We need something to attach to with our main characters and it takes awhile for us to get that.


Verdict:

I loved Mandy and had a blast watching it.  It's an utterly insane film with a great Nicolas Cage performances, fantastic style, a phenomenal score, and absurdly awesome gore.  It does take too long for us to be able to connect to our characters, but this movie has, without a doubt, got it going on.

 9/10: Great 

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