Mandy (2018) Review

 

Mandy (2018)

Mandy follows Red Miller and Mandy Bloom, whose peaceful off the grid life is sent into disarray after Red's wife is kidnapped and killed by a cult, sending him on a vengeful mission of revenge.

Where to start with this movie...Visually, this is a masterpiece. As a filmmaker, you want to give your film its own style and the way Panos Cosmatos did that, by shrouding nearly the entire film in red or purple or pink or blue lights, was gorgeous. It stands out really well, elevating regular scenes to really damn good scenes just by the lighting and editing. Its beautiful, terrifying, thrilling, all of it.

At its heart, its a love story and what one will do out of love. What Red will do when Mandy is taken is what fuels the rest of this film. After Mandy is burned alive in front of Red, it's insane watching him gradually get crazier and more unhinged, going all the way ridiculous with a giant chromed out ax and a muscle car to add to the bonkers third act.

My best advice with this film, sit back, drink a gallon of LSD, and see where it takes you because that’s what it felt like to watch this. It’s an acid trip multiplied by a thousand. And once it gets going, boy does it get going. After the initial first act and a half, the movie picks up steam and the second half is pure Nicholas Cage. The man is a force of nature and it’s done him well by not appearing in big blockbusters for awhile. The gore, the action, the revenge plot, its all awesome. This is one of those films, that he just knocks it out of the park and it's so fun to see.

Docked a few points because it’s a bit convoluted at times and the revenge thing has been done to death, but this film takes it’s outrageousness and over the top antics, and makes it feel fresh again.  It also does a nice blend with it's tone, using animation at some points to drive home how acid-like this film makes you feel.

7/10