Title: Mandy
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Director: Panos Cosmatos
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Andrea Riseborough, Linus Roache
Runtime: 2 hr 1 min

What It Is: Red Miller (Cage) is a lumberjack that loves his girlfriend Mandy (Riseborough). Mandy loves to spend her days reading trash fantasy novels. They live in relative seclusion. That is until a crazed cult leader has eyes on Mandy and making her his. Now he’ll stop at nothing to get her back. Realizing this that cult leader Jeremiah Sand (Roache) has summoned demon bikers to slow Red’s advance towards his compound. Armed with a bow with arrows and a custom axe there may be no force in this world that can stop Red now.

What We Think: This film is loco. It is utter craziness in all of the best ways. Nicholas Cage is the perfect guy for a role like this and Riseborough is understated and slightly underused for a woman of her talents. Outside of that, this is a stellar piece of visual media. It’s what I’d imagine an acid trip with the Manson family might feel like with a similar ending. A bloody, visceral good time. These are the roles that Nic Cage was born to do. Craziness like this.

Our Grade: A, Balls to the wall insanity is the order of the day. This film is the type where it isn’t for everyone, but if grotesque crazy cinema is your thing well this is it. The 80’s aesthetic is a hit and doesn’t overpower the narrative. If it didn’t expressly tell you that it takes place in the 80’s you probably wouldn’t even know it. Red is the color of the day with Benjamin Loeb’s cinematography. A good choice and one that sticks itself in your psyche never letting you forget everything you’ve seen. Where You Were Never Really Here featured subtlety this is not concerned with petty things like that.