When aspiring model Jesse moves to Los Angeles, her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will take any means necessary to get what she has.
There's no denying the beauty of Refn's images, even if his puerile instincts are at odds with his obvious pretensions. Those who cry it's shallow and ugly won't be wrong; others will love it for those very reasons.
– Adam Graham,
Detroit News,
24 Jun 2016
rotten:
Things go downhill rapidly as the movie descends into horror material that is laughably grotesque yet so visually cool it remains fatally unfunny.
– Kate Taylor,
Globe and Mail,
24 Jun 2016
fresh:
Refn is hardly the first moviemaker to find a link between supermodels and scary monsters, but he may be the most style-minded one to make the connection. Imagine an issue of Vogue with Maleficent as guest editor.
– Peter Howell,
Toronto Star,
24 Jun 2016
fresh:
Archly silly, quotable, visually hypnotic and perfectly suited for repeat viewings. On first watch, the film is bizarre, hallucinatory, shockingly gruesome. A second watch unlocks the dumb-clever charms of Refn's script
– Katie Walsh,
Tribune News Service,
24 Jun 2016
rotten:
Pretentious and self-indulgent, it seems tailor-made to appeal to lovers of the obtuse and inscrutable until it takes a left-turn into schlocky, gore-drenched splatter imagery.