Cage stars as Red, a man seeking to get revenge on cult leader Jeremiah Sand (a spectacularly unsettling Linus Roache) who has deeply wronged him. Cage absolutely thrives in a movie that encourages him to be…well, Nicolas Cage.
The first forty minutes of “Mandy“ see Cage and his girlfriend, the titular Mandy (Andrea Riseborough) living a quiet life in the California woods. What is likely intended to be a slow burn to build upon the impending doom that will befall the couple instead comes off as a vehicle to paint Mandy as the manic pixie dream girl — one of the most frustrating female movie character tropes.
Mandy is young, quiet, emotional, a little weird and laughs at Red’s jokes — the perfect girlfriend to a Nicolas Cage character. Red is completely devoted to her. Later, Mandy catches the attention of Sand simply by her ethereal wood nymph-like looks alone. Sand is so enthralled that he must have her. So much so that Sand sends his cult to abduct Mandy in the dead of night.
For being namesake of the movie, Mandy purely exists to intertwine Red and Sand’s stories. The two leading men in this movie give raw, unhinged and sometimes animalistic performances. Mandy is a completely flat and dull character. She is written as one female stereotype after another. The movie honestly would have been more impactful if it cut out the first 30 minutes and opened right before the violent abduction of Mandy.
Mandy’s abduction and its aftermath is when the film unleashes hell. Jeremiah Sands’ cult is absolutely terrifying. The dark things humanity is capable of might one of the scariest things ever. “Mandy” nails that with the portrayal of this cult. The pure giddiness the male cult members showed at torturing Mandy and Sand getting in her face and delivering a narcissistic monologue (without blinking once) are two truly chilling scenes.
While the cult was absolutely the scariest part of this movie, the sheer level of grindhouse violence in this film is unforgettable. This is where Cage shines. There are moments in this film that remind you why he won that Oscar. The scenes where he attempts to grapple with the violence that has befallen his Mandy are truly gut-wrenching.
But on the flip side, the final act of the film reminds us why Nicolas Cage is one of Hollywood’s greatest enigmas. If you’ve already heard about “Mandy,” likely it’s been regarding the fact that this film is violent as all hell. The goriest of the gore comes at the hands of Red.
Let me tell you, you haven’t lived until you’ve seen Nicolas Cage straight up massacre a man for “ripping his favorite shirt,” and top off his bloody murder by snorting a comically large amount of cocaine with his eyes crazy and his face completely soaked in his victim’s blood. And speaking of Red’s victims, “Mandy” features a chainsaw duel that will soon be the stuff of horror movie legend (and not to mention, the staging and cinematography of this fight was weirdly beautiful).
“Mandy” is not for everyone. A shockingly violent arthouse film will be enjoyed by a very specific audience. But whether or not this is your kind of movie, “Mandy” will undoubtedly stick with you.
– by Brynne Ramella
