History Film / TheNeonDemon

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Sarah definitely feels this way when Jessie is picked over her.
* AmateurPhotographer: Dean is called this when Roberta Hoffman interviews Jesse.
* AmbiguouslyHuman: [[spoiler: Jessie]]. There are several hints through out the movie that she is not fully human. [[spoiler:But even if she's not, it doesn't save her when Ruby, Sarah and Gigi decide to murder and cannibalize her.]]

* ArtisticLicense: The shoot Jessie does with Jack is a nude one, and certain things imply Jessie did not know it would be. The laws surrounding nude scenes or photography state that the actor or model know well in advance what the conditions will be, what will be seen etc. If Jessie did know in advance, then she would probably not have gone onto set wearing a dress - as she would have to have make-up done for her whole body (and if she were having pictures taken in the dress, she would have to pause after those were done to have make-up redone for the nudes). She would instead be more likely to have a robe, which she would be free to change into when not shooting. Jack also dismisses everyone to make it a closed set - which means non-essential crew members are not present for the nudity. Ruby is also dismissed but, as a make-up artist, she would be considered essential to touch up Jessie's (especially when shooting under hot studio lights).
* AttemptedRape: [[spoiler: Ruby attempts this with Jesse and gets physically shoved off the bed.]] Unfortunately, successful with [[spoiler: Hank's attempt on the 13-year-old girl in room 214.]]
** Or maybe not so successful, since it's [[AmbiguousSituation left ambiguous]] [[TheGhost who]] exactly did what in room 214. We only hear the noises that frighten Jesse.
* AttentionWhore: Sarah, to murderous levels.

* BeautyBreedsLaziness: * Discussed by Jesse. When talking to Dean, she says she has no talent or real interests, but her beauty is enough.

** Subverted with Gigi and Sarah but played straight with Jesse.
** Played with in Jesse's case later on, as she seems to turn more cold and narcissistic after her [[MindScrew strange hallucinatory experience on the runway]]. [[spoiler: Unless she wasn't a BitchInSheepsClothing all along as implied by the climax.]]
* BeautyIsBest: As Jessie says, she has no talents, but she has her beauty.
--> "...and I can make money off pretty."
* BitchAlert: Gigi establishes herself as an antagonist by throwing some passive aggressive comments Jessie's way - also subtly taunting her about being an orphan.
* BloodBath: [[spoiler: Ruby, Sarah, and Gigi]] murder [[spoiler: Jesse]], a beautiful and virginal young woman, and not only bathe in her blood but cannibalize her as well. Refn said he was directly inspired by the tales of Elizabeth Bathory.
* BloodCountess: Ruby. She is the wealthiest out of the three villains, she also lives in an enormous house in L.A. that she claims to be housesitting, but her MysteriousPast suggests it might just belong to her. [[spoiler: She kills Jesse after trying to [[PsychoLesbian sexually assault her]] and together with Gigi and Sarah bathe in her blood and cannibalize her, seeking her beauty and youth.]]
* TheCameo: Nicolas Winding Refn's wife Liv Corfixen (who the film is dedicated to) is one of the guests at the restaurant. Christina Hendricks serves as a slightly longer example of this.
* ChekhovsGun: The door to Jesse's motel room. The fact that it is difficult to open gives Jesse the time to double lock it to prevent [[spoiler: a rapist]] from getting in.
* ChekhovsSkill: Ruby's second job as a mortician, [[spoiler: which might have come in handy when she later mutilates Jessie and disposes of her corpse.]]

* CrackDefeat: Sarah the experienced model is passed over in favor of newbie Jessie.
%%* TheCutie: Jessie, initially.

* DontYouDarePityMe: Sarah snaps at Jessie for trying to reassure her after the failed audition - telling her not to pretend she doesn't know the effect she has on people.
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Another NWR staple. Jessie wakes up to see [[spoiler: Hank]] forcing a knife deeper and deeper into her mouth before she suddenly wakes up revealing it was a dream. Then [[spoiler: Hank]] [[TheUnreveal (or someone else)]] comes to the door for real, and Jessie is able to preemptively lock her door. However, since so much of the movie is [[AmbiguousSituation ambiguous]], it is quite possible that this dream was just a RedHerring, and that in reality [[spoiler: Hank]] did nothing and [[TheGhost someone else]] was behind the door.

* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Jessie wears her hair curly in the first half of the film. Her success as a model and subsequent [[spoiler: TookALevelInJerkass]] are marked with her hair being worn straight.
* FairestOfThemAll: This seems to be the general reaction to Jessie. Like Snow White, this comes with consequences.[[note]]Hilariously enough, her actress did play Sleeping Beauty [[Film/{{Maleficent}} before this]].[[/note]]

** Jessie has to first strip to her underwear and then completely nude. She's clearly uncomfortable doing so, and the audience knows she's only sixteen (with the photographer believing she's a nineteen-year-old).

** Jessie in a nightie - after she's had to flee from a crime scene and is [[spoiler: being groomed by a LesbianVampire]].
** Jessie seductively draped over a couch and writhing around [[spoiler: is Ruby's wet dream about an underage girl while she's molesting a corpse]].
** There is a scene where Abbey Lee and Bella Heathcote shower nude together. Why is it a disservice? [[spoiler: They are washing off Elle Fanning's blood]].
* FauxAffablyEvil: [[spoiler: Ruby.]] Upon first meeting her, she appears to be sweet and helpful, then towards the last quarter of the film, we learn that this was a facade and that she's really a complete monster in reality.
* FromBadToWorse: [[spoiler: After rejecting Dean and almost getting raped by Hank]], Jesse runs to Ruby, who's her last friend. [[spoiler:Then both we and Jesse realize how screwed up Ruby really is...]]
* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler: Jesse gets eaten, Ruby lies naked in the moonlight and menstruates a flood of blood, Gigi throws up Jesse's eye and commits harakiri with scissors to get "Jesse out of her" and Sarah proceeds to eat said eye.]] Yeah...
* TheGhost: The girl in room 214.
* GirlOnGirlIsHot: Subverted. Ruby is a lesbian and there are a lot of somewhat erotic scenes of her helping Jesse. But when she actually has sex with a woman...[[spoiler:it's a naked corpse in a mortuary. And then she tries to rape Jesse, further subverting this.]]

* GoryDiscretionShot: Played straight with [[spoiler: Jesse's death falling into the empty pool]] but subverted with [[spoiler: Sarah eating the vomited up eyeball]].
* HalfwayPlotSwitch: From a melodrama about a young girl being swallowed by the fashion industry into a [[spoiler: surreal horror full of cannibals, necrophiles and scorned lesbians]].

* HouseOfBrokenMirrors: The scene where Jesse meets Sarah in the ruined bathroom, after her RageAgainstTheReflection.
* IfICantHaveYou: Possibly the reason [[spoiler:Ruby kills Jessie after Jessie rejects her.]]

* InformedAttractiveness: Jessie is frequently described as noticeably more beautiful than Gigi or Sarah. The plot is driven by her being unusually attractive even for a fashion model.

* IntimateHairBrushing: Ruby brushes Jessie's hair to calm her down after escaping Hank from the motel.
* ILoveTheDead: Somewhat arguable as it's treated as much with a masturbatory fantasy on [[spoiler: the part of Ruby after being rejected by Jesse.]]
* LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine: NaiveNewcomer and Ingenue Jessie is the Light, contrasted with more cynical girls like Sarah and Gigi.
* JailbaitWait: Jessie's agent says to lie that she's nineteen rather than eighteen, as eighteen is "too on the nose."

* LipstickLesbian: Literally with Ruby, who is a make-up artist. She's glamorous enough that Jessie mistakes her for a model at first.

** [[spoiler: The implied ease and readiness that Ruby, Gigi, and Sarah had in killing and eating Jesse, along with what transpires afterward at least with Sarah and Ruby gives a slight bit of supernatural cadence to an otherwise straight arthouse horror film]]. Also teased earlier in the film when [[spoiler:Sarah goes so far as to lick the blood from Jesse's cut hand in the bathroom]].
** Although the scene with [[spoiler: Ruby's full moon ritual in which she menstruates an improbable amount of blood as well as her sporting occult tattoos on her chest]] definitely seems to push the movie into a more supernatural angle. However, given that the movie plays with hallucinations and dreams, it could certainly just be a fantasy she's having.
* MoralityPet: Dean to Jessie. When she casts him aside and he leaves, everything goes downhill for her.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: As the film's ending displays, [[spoiler: Gigi]] was clearly unable to stomach what she did to [[spoiler: Jessie.]]

* NiceMeanAndInBetween: Jessie has to contend with the friendly surrogate big sister Ruby, passive aggressive and territorial Gigi, and the insecure but slightly more sympathetic Sarah. [[spoiler: Subverted when all three of them murder and cannibalize her]].
* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Refn was apparently inspired by the story of Elizabeth Bathory when writing the script. [[spoiler: You can definitely see shades of this in the way Ruby resolves her unhealthy obsession with Jessie.]]
* NotGoodWithRejection: Ruby, to say the least.
* ObliviouslyBeautiful: Jessie at first tries to play this up, but Sarah sees right through it. Sure enough, see ProudBeauty below.

* PlentyOfBlondes: All the model main characters are blondes, and two blondes can be seen in the waiting room at Jessie's agency. The agent even dismisses one of them.

* RageBreakingPoint: Happens to Ruby when [[spoiler: Jesse rejects her sexual advances towards her]].

** [[spoiler:Hank sneaks into Jesse's room and molests her with a knife. It turns out to be a premonition and she manages to lock the door. Instead, Hank goes to the new girl and rapes her. The new girl is 13.]]
*** [[AmbiguousSituation Or does any of that really happen?]]
** Then right after this, [[spoiler: Jessie is nearly raped by her friend, Ruby.]]
* RandomEventsPlot: The already sketchy plot ultimately collapses halfway through and turns the film into a collection of random scenes with less and less relationship between each of them.

** She asks Jessie about her family [[spoiler: to check if she has anyone who will miss her]].
** Her slightly pushy manner of getting Jessie to give her personal details and insisting she have her number, also talking about how Jack is untrustworthy [[spoiler: all reek of {{Gaslighting}} Jessie into thinking she can only count on Ruby]].
** Before the nude shoot, she offers to stay on set. [[spoiler: She's hoping for a peek at naked Jessie herself]].
** Are you food or sex? [[spoiler: She's food]].
* OlderThanTheyLook: Jesse is told to lie and say that she is 19 despite being 16 years old.
* OnlySaneMan: Dean is the only character who is remotely normal.
* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Bella Heathcoate slips back into her natural Australian accent, sometimes at the start of sentences. Unless Gigi is meant to be an Australian who is losing her accent.
* SignatureStyle: Strong use of primary colors. The main colors are blue and purple, with Refn's beloved red being less used. When it's used, it's with a vengeance.

** Hank calls a girl he intends to pimp out, "real Lolita shit".
** The runaway scene is done in the style of Kenneth Anger's ''Lucifer Rising''.

* SleazyPhotoshoot: The underage Jesse's first real job in LA is a naked photoshoot where she is covered by gold paint. There's a lot of emphasis on Jack, the much older photographer, rubbing Jesse's chest with paint. Ruby then jumps in and warns Jesse not to be alone with Jack, which may be true but also may be Ruby taking advantage of the situation to befriend Jessie.
* SpiritualSuccessor: Surprisingly, to ''Film/{{Bronson}}''. Jesse's speech about why she wanted to become a model is eerily similar to the opening speech in ''Bronson''.

* StressVomit: Happens to [[spoiler: Gigi after she helps eat Jesse]].

* SymbolicGlassHouse: Ruby housesits in a house like this and persuades Jesse to come and see her after Jesse is nearly raped in her very seedy motel room. [[spoiler:Ruby and the models ultimately kill Jessie in a swimming pool there and bathe in her blood.]]

* VirginPower: Suggested in increasingly unsettling ways with Jessie.
* VisualPun: By the end of the film, [[spoiler: the modeling world has literally chewed Jessie up and spit her out.]]
* WalkingShirtlessScene: A female example with [[spoiler: Ruby.]] Subverted in that it is not at all fanservicey. [[spoiler: Ruby's chest and arms turn out to be covered in crude occult tattoos, and she's washing away Jessie's blood with a hose.]]

** [[spoiler: Is Jesse's body still buried? Do the police get involved after Gigi's death?]]

* TheWeirdSisters: Ruby, Sarah, and Gigi are revealed to be a coven of sorts.
* WomanScorned: [[spoiler: Ruby]] apparently doesn't know the meaning of the word "no". [[spoiler: It ultimately leads to her performing DeathByWomanScorned on Jessie]].

** There is a seen were Abbey Lee and Bella Heathcote shower nude together. Why is it a disservice? [[spoiler: They are washing off Elle Fanning's blood]].

* ILoveTheDead: Somewhat arguable as it's treated as much with [[ADateWithRosiePalms a masturbatory fantasy]] on [[spoiler: the part of Ruby after being rejected by Jesse.]]

* AmbiguouslyHuman: [[spoiler: Jessie]]. There are several hints through out the movie that she is not fully human.

* FashionModel: Obviously but Gigi, Sarah, and Jesse all serve as examples.

* IronicInversion: Sarah the experienced model is passed over in favor of newbie Jessie.

* {{Jerkass}}: Quite a few. [[GreenEyedMonster Sarah,]] [[AlphaBitch Gigi,]] [[{{Slimeball}} Hank,]] [[LackOfEmpathy Jack McCarther,]] [[SmugSnake Robert Sarno.]] And most definitely, [[spoiler: [[PsychoLesbian Ruby]].]]

''The Neon Demon'' is a 2016 psychological horror-thriller directed by Creator/NicolasWindingRefn, with a screenplay by Mary Laws & Polly Stenham. The film stars Creator/ElleFanning, with Creator/KeanuReeves, Creator/JenaMalone and Creator/DesmondHarrington in supporting roles.

* DidNotGetTheGirl: Dean follows the trend of Refn's male characters.

[[caption-width-right:350:''Beauty isn't everything. It's the only thing.'']]

%%* GirlOnGirlIsHot: Subverted, if not averted.

* TheIngenue: Jessie appears to be a sweet, delicate, unworldly girl. But as we find out, she can also be dangerous.

%%

''The Neon Demon'' is a 2016 psychological horror-thriller directed by Creator/NicolasWindingRefn, with a screenplay by Mary Laws & Polly Stenham.

Creator/ElleFanning stars as Jesse, a 16-year-old aspiring model who arrives in Los Angeles to start her career. After a chance encounter with a well-connected make-up artist, she has a meteoric rise among the ranks in the fashion business with her irresistible beauty and virginal youth giving her an incredible edge over her competitors.

Also features Creator/KeanuReeves and Creator/JenaMalone along with Creator/DesmondHarrington as Jack, a very established fashion photographer.

* SleazyPhotoshoot: The underage Jesse's first real job in LA is a naked photoshoot where she is covered by gold paint and asked to pose "dead" on a sofa as if she's had her throat cut. There's a lot of emphasis on Jack, the much older photographer, rubbing Jesse's chest with paint. Ruby then jumps in and warns Jesse not to be alone with Jack, which may be true but also may be Ruby taking advantage of the situation to befriend Jessie.