I waited five years for this. I remember when it came out. It even played at The Roxie in the Mission District which was not far from where I worked. Given my affinity for the sustained chaotic idiocy that defines the career of Nicolas Cage, you’d think I would be all over it. I wasn’t and it lasted just a week (i.e. Before I had a chance to see it).
Given the awful rep of the film in question, I also kinda refused to see it On DeMandy. That proved a wise move. However, at this moment in time, I wish I’d seen it in 2018 for the simple reason that I would have forgotten most of it already by now. The taste of Mandy is like an onions ‘n’ liver smoothie. Sampling it fresh, well, that’s not exactly something I cherish, y’know?
Before I go on, I have to describe the general look of the picture. Mandy has some of the worst cinematography I have ever seen. I’m gonna pretend this was choice to emphasize the horror contained within, because I can’t think films look this ugly without a cinematographer’s input. Every shot of this film makes me feel like I need a tetanus booster or -in the very least- a hot shower … and that includes the scenes of “bliss.”
Basically, two white trash losers, Red (Cage) and Mandy (Andrea Riseborough) live peacefully away from … everything. Apparently, however, not far enough away. Going out for a walk one day, Mandy encounters a cult in a van. The leader would later insist she “called out to him … silently.” This sounds like a joke, which is probably why Mandy laughs aloud when they kidnap and force cult shit on her.
You really shouldn’t laugh at Jeremiah Sands (Linus Roache), the leader of the Black Skulls. No really, you shouldn’t, cuz as much as this douche resembles a middle-aged Jeff Spicoli, he commands people who do some evil shit. Trump, Musk, Putin, Carlson, trolls … I guess the lesson of our time is petty little men creating
oversized evil. And this evil acolyte makes sure Mandy is no longer going to laugh at him ever again in several visually unpleasant ways.
Speaking of visually unpleasant. Nic Cage now has to revenge. Revenge. Revenge. Revenge. The revenge outfit is gonna be tighty-whities? Ummm, ok. Not my revenge outfit of choice, but whatchagonnado? Don’t worry, Cage will be wearing blood, and plenty of it, before long. Mandy is a little like John Wick … if you replaced Keanu Reeves with a used syringe.
Mandy is about as unpleasant a film as I can remember seeing. I’m certain that I’ve seen more unpleasant films … but they tend not to stick around my memory for some reason. I have no doubt this film wanted to say something deep about the nature of cults or satanists or death or violence or revenge or men or aliens or some shit, but when a film is this unpleasant to look at, I kinda stop caring what it’s trying to say. Any way you explore it, Mandy is an unpleasant watch and one I cannot recommend to anyone no matter what the message was.
When his girl receives her final good-bye
Our hero is left asking himself “Why?”
Payback in squalor
Leaves the viewer to holler:
Revenge is best served in a sty
Not Rated [R, hard R], 121 Minutes
Director: Panos Cosmatos
Writer: Panos Cosmatos, Aaron Stewart-Ahn, Casper Kelly
Genre: FYNC!
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The “revenge at all costs” crowd
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People who floss
