'Mandy' Is Quite Heady

Earlier this year, Nicolas Cage starred in Mom and Dad, a movie that has the kind of premise and tone which allows the fitting showcase of what Cage does best: be entertainingly hammy and batshit crazy.  However, it turns out it’s yet not the “Cagiest” film of the year.  That would be Mandy.

It’s a horror action film set in 1983, in which Cage plays Red Miller, a logger who lives in a cabin near the Shadow Mountains with his artist girlfriend, the titular Mandy (Andrea Riseborough).  However, their blissful life is shattered when, one day, Mandy catches the fancy of a cult leader named Jeremiah Sand (Linus Roache), which prompts him to invade the couple’s woodland abode, and grotesquely murder Mandy in front of her bound, horrified boyfriend.  After freeing himself, Red – fueled by profound grief and rage, as well as alcohol and drugs – embarks on a bloody, frenzied quest for vengeance – going on a gauntlet against demonic bikers and murderous cultists, in order to get his hands on the psychopathic, high-and-mighty Sand.

A crazed Nicolas Cage going on a tear has always had a must-watch appeal.  But putting such explosive component in the confines of a well-crafted revenge film, which channels the grindhouse quality of old, yields a heady viewing experience.

Actually, its revenge plot is pretty standard fare.  But it’s supremely absorbing because it’s oozing with style.  The mix of grainy, psychedelic visuals and striking, atmospheric music perpetually generates and sustains a mesmeric, ASMR-ish mood, which in turn enhances the narrative through and through.

Lastly, this is worth mentioning: despite all the violent, grotesque, and dark elements that this movie showed, the only thing that made my skin crawl was the long shots of Mandy staring forward to the camera.  Andrea Riseborough – especially her eyes – really looks considerably unsettling through a dark, night-vision, red-hued filter.

In the end, I wouldn’t exactly say that Mandy is a masterpiece.  However, being embellished in madness, grit, panache, and nuance, it proves to be a gorgeous work of art all in all.