Plot Summary

From the visionary mind behind Drive, director Nicolas Winding Refn plunges into the seductive and nightmarish underbelly of the fashion world with The Neon Demon. Set in Los Angeles, the film explores a glossy yet merciless universe where beauty is both currency and weapon.

Jesse (Elle Fanning), a wide-eyed young woman with an arresting natural beauty, arrives in Los Angeles determined to conquer the modeling industry. Her rise is swift and intoxicating, as photographers, designers, and agents become mesmerized by her presence. Yet beneath the shimmering surface of success lies a predatory ecosystem fueled by envy, obsession, and ruthless ambition.

As Jesse is drawn deeper into the elite modeling circle, she crosses paths with a group of established models whose fixation on youth and perfection masks something far more sinister. Their admiration soon curdles into resentment, pulling Jesse into a surreal and irreversible descent where beauty is consumed, possessed, and ultimately destroyed.

Premiering in competition for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, the film provoked intense reactions with its hypnotic visuals and uncompromising tone. Alongside Elle Fanning, the cast features Keanu Reeves, Christina Hendricks, Karl Glusman, Jena Malone, Bella Heathcote, Abbey Lee, and Alessandro Nivola.

Critics drew parallels to surrealist cinema, with The Telegraph likening the film to Un Chien Andalou, while Screen Crush described it as “a nightmare designed by David Lynch or Werner Herzog”. Vanity Fair praised it as “a pure, delirious source of pleasure.” The Neon Demon stands as a provocative meditation on desire, identity, and the brutal cost of beauty in a world that devours its own.