Let’s Talk About MANDY

For anyone who had already seen Panos Cosmatos’s 2010 sleeper synth surrealist film

Beyond the Black Rainbow, early reviews of Mandy back in 2017 peaked our interest as we knew a Cosmatos movie starring Nic Cage would be interesting to say the least. And boy howdy was it ever. 

I was lucky enough to make a one night screening of it back in September, and I recently watched it on DVD, and I still don’t feel like I’ve seen it enough to accurately give my opinion on it. 

Let me start out by saying, Mandy will not be for everyone, this saddens me, but it's true. Mandy is an acid fueled (literally), vengeance driven thrill ride, and it's a blast to watch. The movie is a love letter to B-movie horror action thrillers of the 80's and a tribute to metalheads everywhere.

   

Ok enough Cage gifs, there are just so many good ones. 

Mandy is its own beast. It certainly has horror elements and will please genre fans, but it is first and foremost a satisfying revenge flick that is unlike anything I've ever seen before. It is something you can watch and fully immerse yourself in. But what makes Mandy as good as it is is sir Nicolas Cage, love him or hate him, nobody could have played the part as well as he did (watch the scene in the bathroom and tell me another actor who can go from full rage to sobbing in the course of a minute).

Ironically, Cosmatos originally wanted Cage to play the antagonist Jeremiah Sand, but Cage said he wanted the starring role. 

Mandy is by no means the goriest movie I've ever seen, but it's a gore-fest in the way that it comically uses its violence. Mandy is not a comedy, but Nic brings his fiery comedic charm that I appreciated before, but now love with a burning passion. I could talk about this movie all day, but I'm afraid I'll spoil something and you're better off going into this movie completely blind. 

TLDR:  10/10

For fans of horror, surreal, arthouse, or straight up weird movies, you CANNOT miss Mandy, I can't stress this enough. I've never done drugs, but I feel like Mandy is a safe (and satisfying) alternative, as it draws you sleepily in, by the end, spiraling into complete and utter gleeful madness. 

Sorry I couldn't resist.