Mandy is weird af and you need to see it, too.

I don't know if you've heard the secret rolling around town, but the next movie club session is happening in like nine days, and I was chosen to select the movie.

Now, I am nowhere near a cinephile, movie nerd like @lucas., so being the chosen one felt like an absurdly intimidating feat. I did not want to choose the wrong movie or something that people would hate, or worse, be bored with. Also, I haven't watched nearly enough films in my lifetime to feel confident in suggesting movies to people, especially a whole group who've dedicated their lives to film and writing about film.

A bout of choice paralysis hit me. I couldn't decide if my life depended on it, so, of course, I resorted to my usual tactic when it comes to choosing movies. I went on Google and typed in "movies you should watch." I closed my eyes, scrolled, and randomly stopped on this banger of a movie: Mandy.

I did not expect this movie to be what it is in any shape or form. From the very first scene, I was absolutely hooked and also completely unnerved.

Right from the get-go, the film situates viewers in this surrealistic, almost limbic state. We begin with Red (Nicholas Cage) and Mandy (Andrea Riseborough) huddled away in their little home in the woods. Although nothing happens just yet, something in the air hovers, making everything feel off. Through lighting, through each composition of the scene, through the soundtrack that buzzes ominously in the background, it is clear that the moment between Red and Mandy isn't going to last very long.

It doesn't.

I think the first act of the film really threw me off. I didn't know what to expect, and whatever I might've expected was completely off base. We learn Mandy is a metalhead who grew up with an abusive partner. We learn that Red is a war veteran and now a lumberjack. We know he loves Mandy.

Something about Mandy herself unnerved me. Every time they had close-up shots of her, especially with the shifting eyes (you'll know what I'm talking about when you watch the movie), I wanted to look away. There was something particularly grotesque and also glaringly innocent about her that made the very sight of her feel uncomfortable. Whatever corrupting force surrounded her was taking over her actual body, and Red saw it, too. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't; it was as though I was grieving her before anything had happened, which is the marker of perfect foreshadowing, in my humble opinion.

Mandy's close-ups were ethereal and haunting; she flickered between the past and present and future, both through dialogue, through the changing eyes, through the lighting and sound as well. And, in the moments that she had with Red, I could feel her disappearing the same way he did.

So, the cinematography slaps.

Honestly, the shots were phenomenal. They balanced a perfect amount of experimentalism to really evoke the mood while also remaining tethered to where we are in Red's psyche. In the beginning, each scene is grounded in reality. However, as Mandy is slowly lost, so is this grounding. The movie completely disintegrates into Red's emotions, turning into this psychedelic, mind-bending whirlwind of grief and madness that just sweeps you away with it.

Don't even get me started on the soundtrack.

I love Jòhann Jòhannson's music, and I was not surprised when I learned that he scored Mandy. What I was surprised to learn about was that this was his final score before his untimely death. I don't know if that really changes anything, but let me tell you that this score was an auditory experience of its own. It creeps up on you slowly, it builds and crescendoes and then it falls into this bad-ass rock n' roll thrum as Red reaches the apex of his insanity.

The chainsaws roar to life.

If you know me at all, you won't be surprised when I tell you that obviously I became obsessed with "Death and Ashes."

One thing that has been consistent about me is that I will always go into a movie or book blind. I mean, this time I went in so blind I forgot it was a Nic Cage movie till he popped up on screen (okay, yes, he is the first character to pop up, but I was still surprised, al'right?).

Anyways, if you think Nic Cage isn't the right casting choice for this, boy, you are wrong. He brought his all to this movie, and it's obvious.

What really stood out about his performance was how he unravelled scene by scene, progressively becoming more unhinged. It's not a Nic Cage movie without a random screaming scene, and his most memorable one in this movie was "You ripped my shirt! You ripped my shirt!" The delivery of these lines are… a choice.

Cage brings to the screen a primal and unfiltered approach to navigating Red's grief and anger. Honestly, the best way I can describe his choices is that they are rock n' roll. Against the dark, thunderous thrum of the electric guitars and drums, Red shatters through the screen, axe ablaze, eyes glittering with rage. He is the literal, guttural scream that resonates from Mandy's death (not a spoiler, I swear) and into his present. He is messy, incohesive, and crazed, and he looks like it, which I think was super important to the narrative. This was all of Red's emotions, drugged and magnified and exploding on screen without apology.

To be completely honest with you all, there were points in the movie where I honestly burst out laughing (the "You ripped my shirt" scene, included). At first, I thought that maybe this was comic relief, an intentional poking fun at the seriousness of the rest of the narrative. However, after scrolling down a few interviews, I discovered that Panos Cosmatos hadn't, in fact, intended it to be viewed that way. Oops. 

But... I don't know, I think that the effect of those scenes makes Red's grief all the more real. As he chugs down a bottle of vodka in the bathroom and sobs hysterically, it is the very absurdity of his situation, the fact that he is back in reality this time (in what almost feels like an entirely different genre), weighed down by the trauma of what he'd just experienced, that makes the situation so painful that it's funny. It's almost painfully pathetic witnessing someone break down this way, which is the point. There is no softness, no underlying thrum of the bass to ease into his feelings, to make it feel poetic or dreamlike. This is his reality.

His vengeance, on the other hand, is escapism. It is the ethereal hellscape that he lets overtake him when his grief becomes too much.

Now, if you feel like this movie is way too weird for you, I'd say give it a try. Don't do it alone if you don't like horror, especially gore, because there is a lot of bloodshed, and also the shots are pretty creepy... Yeah, I won't lie, the movie is gory and painful to watch, and if you're opposed to sexual imagery, get ready to skip some scenes... But don't let this deter you. I think Mandy pushes the boundaries of narrative style in storytelling. The use of animation (which I want to talk more about in the movie club), the music, and the way the story itself unravels is a work of art. I am excited to chat more about it at the movie club on November 19 (stay tuned on the discussion posts for the Discord link)!

#Movie Club