Directed by:
Panos CosmatosCinematography:
Benjamin LoebComposer:
Jóhann JóhannssonCast:
Nicolas Cage, Andrea Riseborough, Linus Roache, Bill Duke, Richard Brake, Ned Dennehy, Olwen Fouéré, Isaiah C. Morgan, Paul PainterVOD (5)
Plots(1)
Somewhere in the primal wilderness near the Shadow Mountains in the year 1983, Red Miller (Nicolas Cage) has fallen deeply for the deceptively charming Mandy Bloom (Andrea Riseborough). However, the life he has made for himself comes crashing down suddenly and horrifyingly, when a vile band of ravaging cultists and supernatural creatures desecrate his idyllic home with vicious fury. A broken man, Red now lives for one thing only - to hunt down these maniacal villains and exact swift vengeance. (Madman Entertainment)
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Reviews (12)
It's like Jodorowsky fathered a child with Panos's daddy George. Definitely a distinctive film, visually impressive, from a man with a vision. Interesting color palette, functionally applied filters, but at least in the first half (which many here criticize, but I liked it better) brimming with atmosphere and remarkable visual ideas, all underscored by a unique soundtrack. The second half is grindhouse carnage, uncompromisingly straightforward and simple, but still retaining a visual identity. The half-deranged Cage is a casting triumph, Riseborough has something magical in his intriguing, deadpan face, and Roache is a charismatic villain but also a woefully comic figure, and this is not an easy thing to grasp as an actor. Mandy is a remarkable film, it's not for everyone, certainly not for the mainstream, but it beats with the heart of a filmmaker who’s not bland and loves to tell simple stories through atmospheric imagery. PS: I enjoyed it even more on a second screening. This film is so out of step with 99% of filmmaking, and yet it's not stupid; hats off to it. I'm not surprised by the worldwide enthusiastic critical response (currently 8.2 on Metacritic) and I’m happy for Cosmatos from the bottom of my heart.
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This is the essence of what the audience of a film festival expects from the midnight screening, but rarely gets. An incredibly crammed butchery especially tailored for horror fans. Plus, it is made with love. And it has the best Nicolas Cage in years. If you have the impression, during the first half, that Cage’s performance is modest and intimate, then the other part will prove you wrong by bringing one of the most frantic creations of his career. Hats off to director Panos Cosmatos for being able to manage the whole thing; I’m eager to see what he will do next! Last but not least, I also take my hat off to the recently deceased Jóhann Jóhannsson for his music – a superb farewell. Mandy is a pure gem! [KVIFF 2018]
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Nicolas Cage is a bit like fire — great when controlled, but disastrous if left unchecked. Luckily, Panos Cosmatos knows how to harness Cage’s unique style, and it really shows in this film. It almost feels like the role was tailor-made for him. Mandy is a niche film, definitely not for the average viewer. Its pacing is unusual and quite drawn out, so you either vibe with its style or find yourself suffering through it. The film’s drug-fueled, transcendent atmosphere is worth mentioning — it's hard to tell what reality the story is set in, but that’s part of its charm. The standout feature, of course, is the one and only Nick Cage. While he's not in the spotlight much during the first half, the second half is all about him, and Cage turns into a total badass, delivering wild, intense scenes and brutal, sharp dialogue. Mandy is an artfully shot grindhouse film with cult potential, aimed at a very specific audience.
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Panos Cosmatos finally found a suitable topic for his distinctive and visually extravagant LSD experiments - a lumberjack nightmare on bad drugs with brutally bloody orgies, chainsaws and bikers from hell. Only the hallucinogenic passages and the demonically-psychedelic music of Jóhan Jóhannsson save the first half and its extremely relaxed pace, but then such a sectarian trash metal epic starts that it is difficult not to succumb to it, although resistance to extreme violence is a necessary precondition. Nicolas Cage's crazy performance amounts to a guilty pleasure on a trip. Mandy is a cruel and evil film, but it is equally distinctive.
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Well, how to approach this? On the one hand, we have impressive formal confidence that warrants praise. All those colour filters, sound deformations and blurry visuals look a bit cheap and become boring after a while, but they do build a sufficiently thick atmosphere to overcome the initial monotonous pace and WTF dialogues. The insane villains felt annoying rather than terrifying and the logic is something nobody thought too much about, but that’s not what this is about; this is a film about Nicolas Cage coming out of a hallucinogenic haze wielding a home-made mace to massacre religious fanatics with a smile on his face, and this is something that’s fits perfectly not only Cage, whose performance is flawless, but also Cosmatos, someone who doesn’t do routine and presents a chase after cult-nuts as an authentic road to hell, and he deserves all my sympathy for that. For the time being, 70%, and I’m keeping the fourth * for next time.
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