Mandy

(spoiler free)

If you thought you’d seen Nicolas Cage at his craziest you might need to hold off on your final judgement until you’ve seen his new horror movie ‘Mandy’. Starring alongside him is Andrea Riseborough in a story from Panos Cosmatos, who also directs, and Aaron Stewart-Ahn. The film follows reclusive couple Red (Cage) and Mandy (Riseborough) who encounter a dangerous cult and their deluded leader Jeremiah Sand (Linus Roache).

The film really takes its time to get going, one example of this is the opening credits which certainly seem in no rush to get stuck into things. This gives the film a sense of unjustified self-confidence that it refuses to rid itself of throughout. Much of the film has a dark red haze about it creating a unique and visually impressive aesthetic accompanied by the excellent, booming score by Jóhann Jóhannsson which fits this genre perfectly. However the trippy cinematography and powerful sounds are put to poor use, compensating for a lack of substance within the films narrative. Instead of telling any kind of compelling story the writers here are more interested in shock value as they include countless amounts of disturbing and horrific images and sequences often drawing them out for much longer than nessecary contributing to a two hour long film which overstays its welcome almost entirely.

There’s very little to enjoy here, with the content ranging from disgusting to just plain ridiculous creating more of an ordeal than an enjoyable cinematic experience. It feels like the whole film is manufactured just so that Nicolas Cage can do his thing and deliver another of his so cherished unhinged performances. However, when this is all the film is geared towards it just becomes pointless. If it wasn’t Cage in the leading role here ‘Mandy’ wouldn’t work, albeit it doesn’t work with Cage as it is. His insane outbursts and involvement in the gratuitous violent action sequences can’t save the film from its painfully slow pacing and overall sense of boredom it exudes. It’s the attempts to create a more visual artsy style of storytelling that don’t work, elongating scenes which really don’t need to be as long as they are. As characters spew their endless, nonsensical dialogue it induces eye rolls on more than one occasion and will have you willing the story to reach its inevitable conclusion instead of enjoying the wild ride it has to offer.

There’s clearly an audience for this film, as baffling as that may sound and its cult classic status almost already feels secured. There’s potential for those who laud the crazy of Cage to have fun, but beware that you have to endure plenty before ‘Mandy’ delivers on this promise. The film is a basic revenge thriller at its heart but one that lacks a captivating story to tell so instead overcompensates with ludicrous content which comes across as nothing more than a desperate attempt to distract from the many shortcomings the film presents. Oh, Mandy.

Written by Hamish Calvert

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Rating – 2/10 

Question: What cult classics do you just not understand the love for?
(Leave your answers in the comments section below!)

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