Mandy

Ok, I can see what Panos Cosmatos is going for; riding the 80s vibe but going for heavy metal instead of synthwave. Set in the eighties, there are plenty of references to the cultural conglomerate of the era with glam/speed/heavy metal and fantasy art, b-action machoismo, outsiderness and self-imposed isolation. It is even haunted by the counter culture seventies with the vicious religious hippie cult and their LSD fueled motorcycle gang lackeys. Though anachronistic, I can see Mandy as an attempt of a drone or sludge metal album in a movie format or concert experience, as said were more a nineties evolution. The key elements are there for all senses; excessive slow tempo, cross processed colors, heavy distortions, huge delays and massive reverbs. Unfortunately it loses itself in this gloss and ends up superficial and pretty with more tiresome slow motion that an entire season of sport of your choice. The story churns from A to B with little character or evolution. The raw expositions become flat and pretentious. The violence that should be shocking becomes a tedious grind without any build up or tension. Honestly, I wanted to like this movie. I tried to watch it as a art flick by an auteur director, as a hommage to an era and even as a deadpan pastiche. I don't know what I'm missing, because for me it ends up not a denim and studs speedball but rather a pubescent fever dream through an instagram filter. Had it not been for the multiple credible names involved and the over the top stylistic finish, I think it would have passad as a retro exploitation revenge flick without much attention.