Top 100 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2016: #16. Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon

The Neon Demon

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Writers: Mary Laws, Nicolas Winding Refn

Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refn, who has since attained cult status thanks to the success of 2011’s Drive (which snagged a Best Director award at Cannes), struck divisive chords with his 2013 follow-up Only God Forgives, which was booed at Cannes and resulted in a documentary about the experience the following year from Refn’s wife, Liv Corfixen (My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn). In a response to critiques of misogyny in his narratives, Refn returns with the Los Angeles set The Neon Demon, a femme centric horror film written by Mary Laws and co-financed by Wild Bunch and Gaumont (explaining its eligibility for our foreign films list). Starring a notable cast consisting of Elle Fanning, Jena Malone, Keanu Reeves and Refn favorite Christina Hendricks, the director describes it as a ‘horror film about vicious beauty,’ concerning an aspiring model who meets a group of women willing to do extreme things to be successful (which sounds a bit like the 2014 film Starry Eyes, but we’re sure Refn has plenty of surprises in store). Also, the film is lensed by Natasha Braier, whose worked with a number of notable directors, including David Michod on The Rover (2014), Claudia Llosa on The Milk of Sorrow (2009) and Lucia Puenzo on XXY (2007).

Cast: Elle Fanning, Jena Malone, Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves, Alessandro Nivola, Desmond Harrington, Bella Heathcoate

Production Co./Producers: Wild Bunch’s Vincent Maraval, Space Rocket Films, Vendian Entertainment Bold Films, Gaumont

U.S. Distributor: Amazon Studios (domestic) Gaumont (international)

Release Date: With financing and distribution duties assigned to outfits such as Wild Bunch and Gaumont, we’re assuming Refn has a fighting chance of returning to Cannes with this provocative English language international co-production.