Movie Info
Movie Name: Mandy
Studio: SpectreVision
Genre(s): Horror
Release Date(s): January 19, 2018 (Sundance)/September 14, 2018 (US)
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Mandy, you’re not looking so hot…
Mandy Bloom (Andrea Riseborough) and her boyfriend Red Miller (Nicolas Cage) live in the California countryside near Shadow Mountains and try to live a peaceful life. When Mandy is seen by a cult leader named Jeremiah Sand (Linus Roache) while walking along the road, Jeremiah decides Mandy belongs to him and sets out to claim her. Escaping the Children of the New Dawn, Red finds himself on a path a revenge and will do whatever he needs to for Mandy.
Directed by Panos Cosmatos, Mandy is a psychedelic horror thriller. The movie premiered at Sundance and was met with positive but polarizing reviews.
Wait…this is just a sales pitch for your crappy folk album?
I started hearing buzz about Mandy after it received its wide release. Nic Cage is one of those actors who looks like he is having fun in movies and no matter how bad the movie is (I’m looking at you Wicker Man). Mandy is a different and stylish movie but once again, Nicolas Cage makes it even more watchable.
The movie intentionally crawls. It is a psychedelic trip and a lot of what is going on is unclear because the characters are intentionally using LSD to manipulate and influence both Mandy and Red. What they are both seeing isn’t entirely clear nor can it entirely be trusted. In addition to the drugs, Red’s character is becoming more and more unhinged which adds to unreliability of his narration.
As mentioned, Nicolas Cage just controls the film. He is allowed to be his Nic-craziest due to the story and few actors can carry scenes like his bathroom meltdown with humor and horror. Linus Roache is creepy as the leader of the cult trying to control the situation and Andrea Riseborough plays the tragic Mandy.
Nobody told me there was a script for the movie?!?!
The movie loves playing with the visuals of a drug trip for the horror. What would be a pathetic looking cult leader is able to turn himself into a monster with the drugs and the pink, warping pictures and audio give the movie a unique tone.
Mandy isn’t for everyone, and like many Cage pictures, you probably can either love it for what it is or hate it for its over the top nature. The horror and the visuals are insanity, but don’t go in expecting not stop horror and excitement. It is paced. If nothing else, Mandy is a trip, and a different type of horror film…something in the age of remakes, re-imaginings, superheroes, and sequels which is unusual.
