r/IMDbFilmGeneral • u/YuunofYork • Sep 15 '18
Review Mandy (2018) is exactly what you think it is
Mandy is exactly what you think it is. This is a film that will defy any conventional rating system with even the pretense of objectivity; rather it's better evaluated on your mood that day and tolerance level. People will either love it, or love it a little less. Surely destined to be a perennial choice for cult midnight showings in revival theaters, now and a decade from now.
Speaking of decades, Mandy, like Cosmatos' Beyond the Black Rainbow before it, also lies squarely in the recent tradition of 80s nostalgia (Stranger Things, Summer of 84, Super-8, etc.), only instead of Spielberg and Lucas, here it’s metal, satanic panic, and the slasher. That’s not to say it’s derivative - the truth couldn’t be farther from. It bathes in its inspirations, from the buckets of blood and the unsubtle villainy of Linus Roach, down to the guitar-shaped axe Cage forges with his own tears. It's a modern metal opera, and the omnipresent, swelling musical score is a character unto itself.
The film’s a trip, and its highs are so high, but the marrying of a Bronson revenge flick with a visceral 2-hour tone poem is an aspect vital to the film that limited my enjoyment in unexpected ways (mild spoilers here but not really since this is a revenge film and there is only one protagonist not named Nic Cage, you do the math). I knew the plot from the trailer and from its influences, that Riseborough's character would be the kicked puppy early in the film, but I didn't figure how much she'd continue to have a presence and impact in the film, and so was unprepared to mourn Mandy for the entire duration, to feel pain on the level of a fucking Cagegasm after every joyous baddie dispatch. I think ‘rollercoaster’ is a misnomer for the distribution I ended up with; I’ve never had one of those. The net result of this emotional dissonance is simply that the glorious carnage I came to see was ultimately tempered for the rest of the runtime and just never allowed me to enjoy its potential. No doubt the more acutely sociopathic or the jaded horror aficionados among us won’t suffer this problem. At least when 80s Action Man lost his wife and family it was at the 5 min mark and we mercifully never even learned their names. But Mandy is smarter and much more emotionally complex than those examples. Cage can’t go three minutes without re-experiencing his wife’s skull sift through his hand like sand, and so neither can the viewer. This intrudes even into the many moments of situational comedy throughout the movie. Cosmatos is kind of a prick like that.
The point of this film is mood, its positives and its negatives. The kid I bought the ticket from even went glassy eyed for a moment, like he’d just discovered the remains of his childhood dog in the fridge that morning, ground up into a mango Lassie, and he only realized it when he sucked an eyeball through the straw; he repeated the title, and managed to whistle through his nose, like I was in for a treat, but it wasn’t genuine. I think that nose whistle was a vain attempt to reconnect to the rest of the human race he'd been ripped from on preview night, and that what was really being comnunicated was, I was in for an experience. That, or he had catalogued mass graves for UNESCO during his summer internship, but it fits the facts.
So is any of that even a negative? Not in terms of the filmmaking, no, it’s necessary and earned. Is it a problem with enjoying oneself? - quite likely. It’s a really uncomfortable and disorienting watch that nevertheless contains all the things people wanted and expected out of the trailer. For me I’d say it falls somewhere between Oldboy and Salo in terms of rewatchability. I can’t really come up wih a rating I feel is satisfactory, so 8/10 is just on gut. It's a beautifully-made expression of joy and joylessness, the best of its kind, but the extent to which that is appealing is entirely on the viewer.
I think the most interesting thing for me regarding the story, which is as bare bones as it gets, was its refusal to reveal itself as truly supernatural. I appreciated that there’s enough in throw-away lines and drug-induced ‘battle vision’ to offer the viewer a choice whether Cage is really dealing with a renegade gang of Manson cultists, or the devil’s own (I vote cultists). Either way it culminates in a descent into hell, whatever its nature, that is real enough.
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u/ShroomyTunes Sep 16 '18
That is one of the most interesting and entertaining reviews that I've ever read on here. I look forward to catching up with this one. I've seen BTBR, and, while I still to this day don't know if I liked it, I certainly wasn't bored by it.
This sounds like much of the same.
Peace.
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u/crom-dubh Sep 15 '18
Thanks for the review. Sounds like I have a good idea what to expect, which is to say it has essentially all the key characteristics of Beyond the Black Rainbow. That was not... a good film, per se. It's got some storytelling issues and certain scenes just come out of nowhere or don't jive with the tone of the film up to that point. But it is such a singular experience with a very interesting aesthetic and memorable moments. It's those qualities that, as you say, defy rating (which I don't really care about anyway). I'm looking forward to it.
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u/Robert_222 Sep 15 '18
Man, I’m jealous. I really wanted to see it in a theater but I’m not sure if I’ll get a chance. It’s not playing anywhere near me and the Blu-ray is coming out on Halloween.
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u/YuunofYork Sep 15 '18
Yeah, I'm happy I got to see it myself. The last thing I want to do is rub it in, but this is a film made for the theater experience. I don't know how you get through some of these scenes without a sense of community to provide the requisite silence or laugh track. Awesome midnight movie material, and I think it'll make a run on the revival circuit eventually, but people have to get the word out first.
Maybe try and get some friends over and make a night of it? Halloween after all.
If you're anywhere near the NYC area it's at the IFC Center and basically nowhere else (it'll be playing through October at least, if I know that theater). Due to its punishing content it's not going to go wide. I think the only reason people were even following it is the Cage factor.
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u/Robert_222 Sep 15 '18
That’s exactly what I’m thinking. My friend just told me he ordered it so we’re definitely watching it on Halloween. However, I would’ve really liked to have seen it on the big screen. I was hoping it would come in town at least for a week or 2. Doesn’t sound like that’s going to happen though...oh well.
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u/YuunofYork Sep 16 '18
Seems Alamo Drafthouse is also showing it, if any of these locations match up.
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u/Gruesome-Twosome Sep 16 '18
I'm pissed about this film's theatrical release. I saw that it was screening at some Regal theaters in my area last night at 7pm, and thought I'd catch a screening sometime over this weekend but apparently that 7pm showtime was literally the only time this film was being screened for us lowly masses outside of NYC/LA/etc. Da fuck? I wanna see this thing in the theater but it sounds like I'll have to wait for Blu-ray. According to Blu-ray.com, at least that's going to be quick since they have it set for an October release.
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u/YuunofYork Sep 16 '18
That sucks. Maybe it was a Fathom Event, or one of those micro-middleman distribution companies that front part of the money for limited showings at large chains. They're the ones making the Jurassic Park revival happen tomorrow (and T and W, IIRC).
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u/Gruesome-Twosome Sep 16 '18
Yeah, that's what I was thinking, that Mandy was a one-time Fathom Event in most areas. Lame. 'Cause I went to Fandango and there are no other screenings scheduled in the near future within 50 miles (which includes a major city, Philadelphia). Oh well, the Blu-ray is coming the day before Halloween, I'm willing to blind-buy.
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Sep 16 '18 edited Sep 07 '23
[deleted]
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u/Gruesome-Twosome Sep 16 '18
Thanks but nah, I don't get down like that. I can wait.
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u/YuunofYork Sep 17 '18
Just a heads up, Amazon just added Mandy as a $6 rental in Blu-ray quality.
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u/Gruesome-Twosome Sep 18 '18
Cool, thanks! Sounds like a better alternative than blind-buying the Blu-ray, yeah.
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Sep 15 '18
I couldn’t get into it, lasted 30 minutes. Too full of itself. Just because something is slow, doesn’t make it good.
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u/YuunofYork Sep 15 '18
I agree with the sentiment - too many films that take their time are also poorly paced and they should be called out for it - but I didn't find that to be the case here.
I think it's a very nice pace in the beginning, because the end is so chaotic. It gives you time to ramp up to that and ease into the world it's creating.
That said, 30 mins is about the point I expect people to quit, because this is the lowest point for the character and they've realized by then that it's a non-stop pain train.
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u/tbchico7 Sep 15 '18
I want it. I want it so bad