Mandy

Mandy

Panos Cosmatos' singular vision involves the 80s, fantasy, horror, cults, drugs, violence, Nicolas Cage, Cheddar Goblins, and lots and lots of red. Welcome to the world of Mandy.

My favorite films are the ones that exist in their own world. When I watch movies by directors such as Stanley Kubrick, Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, the Coen Brothers, Edgar Wright, David Lynch, Quentin Tarantino, and every other auteur that's cliche to mention, I feel like I'm visiting a planet with its own unique tone, look, logic, and characters. I know exactly what it would be like to live in the world of The Shining or Fargo or Boogie Nights or The Royal Tenenbaums or Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World because they're all entirely unique unto themselves. Mandy is another unique movie-world like these, and that's easily its strongest element. The tone of its world is hypnotic and dream-like but also menacing and nightmarish, with the same going for the characters. The music and cinematography are perfectly utilized to further establish the movie's unique tone and never distract from the simple story.

The story itself is the only thing that keeps me from truly loving Mandy. Without getting into spoilers, it's a revenge movie, and while it has all sorts of fascinating things surrounding that fact, that's still what it ends up being. I think the only revenge movie I've ever truly loved is Kill Bill Vol. 1, and while there are some similarities between Mandy and Kill Bill, Mandy is oppositely paced and has far less action. If there had been some more depth to the story and the screenplay I think Mandy could've been an all-time favorite for me, but I still love it for its fascinating world and bizarre uniqueness.

I'm not going to talk about spoilers because I highly recommend the experience that is Mandy. Just know that the whole thing is pretty intense and violent, so if you're not into that then don't go see it. But Nicolas Cage fans, you're definitely not going to want to miss this one, and the same goes for film fans in general.