Too Scary; Didn't Watch - THE NEON DEMON

Episode Date: January 1, 2025

Modeling, necrophilia, fashion, cannibalism - Nicolas Winding Refn’s THE NEON DEMON has something for everyone!!!Movie Intro @ 17:18Recap starts @ 30:57TrailerFollow the show: @TSDWpodcast on Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram.Check out our Patreon for bonus episodes and additional content!Rate Too Scary; Didn’t Watch 5 Stars on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and leave a review for Emily, Henley, and Sammy.Advertise on Too Scary; Didn't Watch via Gumball.fmSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is a HeadGum Podcast. This is Emily, Henley, and Sammy, and you're listening to Too Scary, Didn't Watch. Hi everyone, welcome to Too Scary, Didn't Watch, the horror movie recap podcast for those too scared to watch for themselves. I'm Emily and I am too scared to watch scary movies. I'm Henley and I'm also too scared to watch scary movies. I'm Sammie and I love watching scary movies and so I watch them so that you don't have to and it is our first episode of 2025.

Happy New Year! Happy, happy, happy, happy new year. Uh, we are recording this from the past. It's not 2025 yet as I live and breathe. Yes. It's good to be honest about these things. Yeah, but... It's still the hippie-oh-de dear, not so happy, but you get it.

You get it. And we have a fun episode to start off the year. I felt pretty guilty for what happened last time we recorded an episode, which was inside and really feel bad. This movie's not feel good, but I think we'll have at least a little bit more fun with this one than with that one. We know what we signed up for and I think sometimes a little bit more fun is a great bargain. So if you want to jump straight to our recap, there are timestamps in the show notes. I just wanted to do a very brief haunted housekeeping, which is basically just to say that the 28

years later trailer is one of the coolest trailers I've ever seen. So cool. The song and it is so creepy. You learn basically nothing. Which is great. Great, great trailer. And I'm so excited for the movie. When does it come out?

I think not till summer. Okay. But... We will definitely be covering it, obviously. Oh my God, I'm so excited. Killian Murphy's returning, Aaron Taylor Johnson's in it, Jodie Comer. Did you feel like you saw Killian Murphy in the trailer?

I did, and then I saw an article where the actor that it is got jealous. Was like, I'm not Killian. And was like, it's me. Oh no. It looks, I mean, it looks, there's some, it's just special effects makeup involved.

Yes, yes. But I was like, that looks so much like Killian. I know, I had the same thought. Killian doesn't appear in the trailer, but we know he's Triller. Did you hear how I said that? Triller. Not in the trailer.

Triller. In the trailer, he's not in the trailer, but he's in the movie, and so it's like, where is he? Yeah, but I guess that's a different guy, and good for him. Good for him, but I did definitely think it was Killian at first. And I was actually pretty upset about it that they showed Killian in that way.

So thank God it's not him. And then we will be covering Nosferatu imminently. Imminently. Haven't seen it yet. As we record this in the past, it is not yet out. But. Guys, a little peek behind the curtain. But it's coming. We're gonna do it.

It's coming. I'm gonna see it. Why? On earth? Cause I'd like to be included. I've heard it described as horny and evil, and I could not love two descriptors more. That's exactly what I want in my movies, horny and evil. Just, yep. That's it.

Decent pairing, yeah. It'll be like, also, so, um, a very specific artistic style, which will be enjoyable no matter what, Emily. I think that's what, yeah, I'm like, I... It seems like that, that... artistic style, which will be enjoyable no matter what. Emily. Beautiful. I think that's what, yeah, I'm like, it seems like that, but I did just remember that he did the witch. Yeah, but I feel like the witch,

I think that, I think you could kind of handle the witch at this point. Do you know what I mean? I think it's, yeah, you know what, it's gonna be great. And if it's not, I'll just cozy up in my little little seat. Exactly. Ride it out. Right, cover those eyes, cover those ears.

It's like you're not even there. Yeah. I could be anywhere. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Thrilling. You're just watching Mission Impossible on your phone. Yeah, or in my brain.

At this point, I probably could just start it from the beginning in my brain and just watch it. Just watch it. Little mental movie. Little mental movie. A little mental movie. Oh, so the year ahead is filled with many, many wonderful horror movies, hopefully. Hopefully a lot to look forward to on that front. And that's the only front I'm interested in at this moment.

But I thought instead of seeing if anything scary happened to you guys this week, we could do a brief little reflection, the wickedly talented. On our New Year's resolutions we made last year, and we will be doing a more in-depth year in review episode on our Patreon later this month, but I thought we could just quickly check in how we did, how we want to do moving forward. How we did, how we wanna do. I will say, but just before recording, you said that,

and we said, okay, yeah, let's do that. And we could not remember even what our New Year's resolutions had been for last year, which, you know, it's not a great sign in terms of having met the resolutions. But you know what, that's not why we make the resolutions. We make the resolutions to, because it's nice to hope and- It's nice to hope.. It's nice to hope.

And that's, I think sometimes the resolution itself is the resolution. Do you know what I mean? Exactly. Yeah. You can check it right off your list the second you say it out loud. Yeah, I made it, which is good because I guess mine was to take a class. I didn't do that. No, no.

Honestly, thank God for Sammy. Sammy remembered our New Year's resolutions when I did not. I don't know how I did. I remembered all of them. You did great. It's very impressive. We did not. None of us did great.

Spoiler alert. Failed big time for me. This is actually, mine is like, mine stresses me out even thinking about it. It really stresses me out. Yeah, don't even think about it. Don't even think about it. Emily, you talk about yours first.

You talk about yours first. Well, what my new New Year's resolution is gonna be, guess what my new New Year's resolution is gonna be? To take a class. I was gonna say, I think this year's the year. Well, and specifically, I really, and I think I'm really gonna do it. I really am gonna do it.

I wanted to start taking French classes. I really do. Oh yeah. I am determined. Joel did that I wanted to start taking French classes. I really do. Oh, yeah. I am determined. Joel did that, right? Joel has done that. It has been amazing for him. He's like really quite good at French now.

And I, there's a place he's been taking classes in person. Him and our friend Kim have been taking these classes. And I am determined to be able to speak some French by the next time we go to France. And I'm also determined for that to be in 2025. We'll see. Yes. And I am going to do it. I'm going to start taking classes.

And I'm trying to rope my friend, our friend and previous podcast guest, Marty, into taking it with me because, you know, Joel is taking these classes, his fiance Kim has taken these classes. We got to catch up. We got to speak French with our spouses. So that's my resolution.

And I think I'm gonna do it. I feel good about it. Me too. That's great. But even if I don't, in a way, I already did it. Yes, exactly. It's done. You said it out loud.

I said it out loud. So it basically happened. Exactly. Okay, I like that a lot. My New Year's resolution last year was to start a book club. I, you guys, I feel like I have a split personality. One side of me is starting a book club and the other side of me is like, that will never happen ever.

And I am not sure. There are two wolves competing to be the alpha wolf, to be the number one. And they're still, I think the one that's not gonna start a book club might be winning actually. That's okay. Considering the fact that I have not started a book club. Sure. Henley, you started a newsletter and that is.

You did. That's true. A word related thing. It is the written word. You sent both me and Joel books, which we've both started reading, and you better believe I started reading the pumpkin spice cafe. You certainly read a lot of books.

Yes, yes. So anyway, you did start a bit of a book club. So the thing about the book club is it's less to do with the book and more to do with like creating a social group for myself in Greenwich, Connecticut. So yeah, big failure. And when I first moved here, I was like, just start one, just start one, invite anyone you've

met and just invite them all and like start a book club and see what happens. I have, I waited, I waited too long. And so now I've overthought everything. And the main thing that was keeping me from starting a book club was not having the right book either. You really wanna have the right book. Like the one that like will generate conversation,

but also isn't like too intense in any way. You know what I mean? I think an erotic book club is probably the way to go. Yeah. I don't know, I feel like Greenwich, Connecticut's too repressed. I think we're all too repressed. Maybe your Connecticut's safe here.

I know, it's time for me to open up this community. No, that would be a lot with basic strangers. The priest's wife starting the erotic book club. Starting erotic book club. Now that feels like the subject. Of an erotic book. Of a book, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Good point. Oh, you're giving me so many ideas. Yeah, anyway, and also, but here's the thing that's made it so much worse, you guys. Oh, God. I don't know. I don't know. I'll never learn. I've already, I brought up the idea of a book club to too many people, to too many people.

And now I haven't done it yet. And I feel now anxious that I haven't started the book club to too many people. To too many people. And now I haven't done it yet. And I feel now anxious that I haven't started the book club. And I don't want those people to think, A, I'm like a flake who doesn't follow through on anything. Or B, just started one and didn't invite them. And so, I'm a little worried about both of those things. And honestly, this book club thing is like haunting me. It's haunting me.

Anyway, so maybe in 2025, I'll start one. Who knows? My main New Year's resolution for 2025 is I want to try to meditate. And I don't know. I know myself well enough to know that I will never be a consistent meditator, but I would like to at least have one period of time where I am at it. I want to get good enough at it and get consistent enough at it that I am doing it consistently, at least for a period of time, even if it ends. You know what I mean?

And so that's my main year's resolution. You want to hone the tools. Yeah. And so that's my main year's resolution. You want to hone the tools. Yeah, I would like to at least give it a real shot, you know, not give up after like doing it two days and then never do it again for a year. Yeah, so I'd like to meditate. And then I'd also like to, I like to do some manifesting. I'm going to do some manifesting.

I'm going to, I don't know exactly which manifesting tactic I will use, manifesting strategy. I've read about a lot of different ones. You know, I'm gonna be writing things down. Maybe I'll be burning them. Yeah, love that. By the moonlight. Yes.

You know, that kind of thing. I've done that. Love that. I wanna be doing some of that. So meditating and manifesting, those are my things. I love manifesting. I really do. I do too.

I was reading about this one where a woman was like, just write down 300 things that you would like to happen in your life. Just 300. 300. I know it's so many, but that's kind of what makes it interesting is that it's like, can you even think of 300? And then by even doing the practice.

Of thinking of them. Thinking of them, it kind of opens you up to them happening or opens you up to the idea that you even wanted that. Yeah, you start looking for, yeah, I think it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. I mean, I feel like I don't do any strategizing around manifesting, I haven't burned anything or read any theories about it.

I just like to say, well, this is gonna happen. And just sort of stubbornly refuse to accept any alternative. So I don't know if it's manifestation or just... It kind of is. Bullheadedness, but I like it. Yeah, it can be both. I like it too.

It can be both. Like you're gonna take your French class with Marty. I'm taking my French class with Marty. I'm making Marty take French classes with me. There you go. I can do that. And then you guys can all go to France together. We will.

Take a big old trip to France. We will, I tried to bully Samian to take your French We will. Take a big old trip to France. We will. I tried to bully Sami into taking French classes with me too, but she wants to learn German, which I guess is good, because I would like to also go to Germany. Yeah, I feel like- I want to hear Sami argue in German.

I want to hear you get mad about something in German. I've been learning German and Spanish, and I think if I throw French into the mix, it might make everything worse for me. It might just make me less fluent in every other language. Yeah, no, that is reasonable. That's fair. My brain can't hold it is what it comes down to.

My brain can't take it. My New Year's resolution was to watch all of Nicolas Cage's movies in chronological order. I also did not complete the task. I didn't even get remotely close to completing the task. I think I watched six or seven of them and I'll tell you guys why. So fans of Nicolas Cage will know that he is a Coppola.

He changed his name to Cage to not have the clear appearance of a Nepo baby, I guess, was probably part of the goal. He changed his name to Cage to not have the clear appearance of a nepo baby, I guess, was probably part of the goal. But that said, a lot of his early movies are Coppola movies. And Coppola does a lot of gangstery type movies. And you guys know I don't like gangster movies. And so I just was getting really not excited. I didn't even, I'm so close to Moonstruck and I didn't even make it there because I was just like, Oh, I can't make it through these next ones. But 2025

is going to be very good. Let's just make it 2025. You make it to Moonstruck because you will fucking love Moonstruck. I got to make it to Moonstruck because you will fucking love Moonstruck. I got to make it to Moonstruck. And I think once I'm like, there'll be some walls for sure, but I think I'm close to pretty smooth sailing and you know, this is, this goal doesn't necessarily have a time constraint. It's more of a life goal than a year goal. I just want to watch all of Nicolas Cage's movies and 2025 is going to get me however many steps closer. It's going to get you closer.

Whatever is in between now and Moonstruck, I feel like you got to just throw it on first thing in the morning. You're doing some laundry, you're making breakfast. You're kind of popping it in and out. You're taking a look at those gangsters. And that's okay, that counts. Yeah, that counts.

Yep, exactly. I think that's the plan. And I would like to congratulate all of us on, I think, our most moisturized year yet. That's always's- I think, oh yeah. Always a goal of ours and- I wouldn't say it was still a great year for moisturizing. But progress was made. Progress was absolutely made. I made so much progress on moisturizing this year, you guys. Me too. Because it was a combination,

I know I've talked endlessly about my new face, the face stuff, but also, I don't know whether, have I said this yet, which is I started using the Jergens natural tanning lotion, whatever that one's called, over the summer. And I've had KP or keratosis pilaris, like my whole life, basically. And it basically completely got rid of it. It's... I don't have it anymore.

And it's not marketed as something that gets rid of... I've never heard anyone say that it gets rid of KP ever. It's just, in my experience, it's eliminated it. I don't have it anymore. Wow. I know. So, anyway, if anyone wants... If anyone has that out there, try it. Yeah, give it a try. Why not?

You're also gonna get a little bit of a fake tan, but that's fine. That's fine. There are worse things in the world, like KP. Yeah. You're a little skinby and all bumpy. So yeah, big, that's a really good point. Moisturizing was a huge... Yeah.

2024. That was absolutely a win. You gotta count your wins. Mm-hmm. Ah, okay. Well, absolutely a win. You gotta count your wins. Mm-hmm. Ah, okay. Well, I feel great. Me too. And I feel ready for this week's movie, as the person who's watched it already knows exactly what's coming.

Because this week's movie is The Neon Demon. Ooh. Came out in 2016, directed by Nicholas Winding Refn, written by Nicholas Winding Refn, Neon Demon came out in 2016, directed by Nicholas Winding Refn, written by Nicholas Winding Refn, Mary Laws and Polly Stenum, starring Elle Fanning, Carl Glusman, Jenna Maloney, Malone, Maloney.

Jenna Malone? We had this talk last time. I've said Malone. Let's say Malone. Bella Heathcote, Abby Lee, Christina Hendricks, and Keanu Reeves. Keanu Reeves. Wow.

Are you serious? I'm absolutely dead serious. Oh my God. Do you think I would joke about that? This is not a fucking joke. And it is streaming on Prime. For those of you who would like to check it out, I've been meaning to watch this movie for a long time.

Emily, I know you had been considering watching this movie even. I've considered it many times, never did it. Never did it, considered it many times. I'm pretty sure I watched the trailer for this back in the day, and I think this might be a movie that I looked up the plot of. I can't remember a single thing about it,

but I'm pretty sure I saw the trailer and was like, what happens in that movie? And I think this might be one of the ones I looked up the plot of. I can't remember a single thing about it, but I'm pretty sure I saw the trailer and was like, what happens in that movie? And I think this might be one of the ones I looked up. Well, we're going to refresh your memory. Ooh, I'm excited, because yeah, once again, really have considered it many times. Never, ever done it. Um, our friend, once again,

our friend Marty talking about Marty, we'll do a movie pile sometimes when we're trying to decide what movie we're going to watch at the Marty Max, and it's made it to the, you know, the runner up spot for me many times quite a few times is a movie pile. He just puts a bunch of movies in the center of the room and you guys pick out the eliminate, you eliminate until you get to the one movie you're going to, you're going to land on. And I picked Midsommar over this most recently.

I think that's the right choice. That's the right choice. I feel good about it, but you know. Okay. I guess now's my time. Just to say this one was also on your radar. It has a 59% on Rotten Tomatoes, a 51% on Metacritic, and a 6.1 on IMDB. Huh. The budget was 7.5 million, it made 3.6 million.

Alright, well, that's a solid 50%. So, great. Was this before or after Drive? After. Drive was, I think, his first thing. Like, big success. And then it was only God Forgives. That was in like 2012 or something, right? Yes. So this was his, I think third-ish movie.

Okay, okay. It premiered at Cannes like the other two. Actually, I'm not sure that drive did, but Only God Forgives did, and both movies ended with booze and cheers. Ha ha. Hmm, okay. I feel like that is exactly what he's going for at all times. Yeah, yeah. ended with booze and cheers. Okay. I feel like that is exactly what he's going for

at all times. Yeah, yeah. Both booze and cheers. Yeah, I'm actually haven't seen tons of his stuff. I think this is really only the second thing of his that I've seen. I saw Drive in theaters. I've been too scared to watch Drive. Oh, it's great.

I haven't seen. Because of violence. It is violence. But I think it can scared to watch Dry. Oh, it's great. Because of violence. It is violent. But I think it can probably handle it now. Because I just know, like, I'll just not watch. I've seen worse at this point. That's when Ryan Gosling and... What's her name? Is that the one?

No, they got together in Place Beyond the Pines. Oh, I'm thinking of that. But it was like the same moment of his career, I feel like it was sort of. Post era. Post Notebook, post Lars and the Real Girl, being like, I'm actually very masculine and hot in a masculine kind of way.

I do love Ryan Gosling, who doesn't? Oh, he's great. Who doesn't? Oh, he doesn't. He's great. Elle Fanning was 16 when they started filming this movie. My God. Turned 17 during filming and was 18 when it came out. I like Elle Fanning. Me too.

I do too. Abby Lee was an unofficial advisor. She plays one of the models in this film and she was a model in real life. And so she gave Nicholas Winding Ref and a lot of tips on just the world and what would go on and auditions and things like that. And so she helped in certain scenes with the script. Both my cats are going absolutely insane right now. So I'm really sorry if you're hearing meowing and literal bouncing off the script. Both my cats are going absolutely insane right now, so I'm really sorry if you're hearing meowing and literal bouncing off the walls.

They say it's podcast time. They say mommy's doing her podcast. Oh my God, one of them must've just pooped. Do your cats do the thing where after they poop, it's like, I'm free, I'm light as air. Yeah, they literally bounce off the walls. It's nuts. It's like a rebirth.

They're like a whole new cat. And usually it's like really Mabel who does that. And then Theo gets excited that maybe they're playing. And so he chases her. And so she's like, like through the hole. It's nuts. She's like, no, this is just my thing.

This is for me. Not trying to play. So I just also wanted to list off a lot of the actors in this movie are in other movies that we've covered. So Carl Glusman was in Watcher. Isn't he also in Invitation? Not Invitation. The Invitation.

What's the dinner party one? I watched it. That's the Invitation, right? Wasn't it the Invitation? I don't think he's in that. No? Carl Glusman is Zoe Kravitz's ex-husband. Was he in Game of Thrones?

No. Who am I thinking of? I think you're thinking of the guy from- Carl something. Haunting in Hill House? Yes, Carl something, right? I'm not sure. This is what the people are here for.

Oh, oh, oh. It's not sure. This is what the people are here for. Oh, oh, oh. It's not Carl. I was, Carl was not ringing a bell for me. His name is Mikael Huseman. So it's the last name. Huseman. That's it. That you were getting confused about.

Fair. That's fair. Thank you, Huseman. Yeah. Yes, Mikael Huseman. Mikael Huseman. So it's kind of a totally different name. Yeah, this is Carl Gleesman, so it's different.

Kind of just a completely different name and a different guy and like that kind of not the same. It's close. There's a, yeah, there's something to be pulled together. There's a poem in there somewhere. Can someone write a poem about these two men? Great. And all they have in common. Yes, yes. Okay. So Jenna Malone, obviously in Donnie Darko.

Bella Heathcote was in the Australian film Relic that we did with Spooko Boys. Abby Lee was in Old, the M. Night Shyamalan movie. She's the model in that as well. And then obviously Keanu Reeves is in the fantastic Eli Roth's finest film, Knock Knock. And also L. Fanning's doppelganger is Bill Hader, who have you guys ever noticed that before? This is something that- Somebody write a poem about it. Don't write but work that into the same poem. And then just a few casting what ifs.

Timothy Chalamet auditioned for the Carl Glusman part. Much younger man, much younger man. Yeah. I think he's supposed to be young, but yeah, he's probably a couple of years older than Timothée Chalamet. He's 36. Oh yeah.

I just looked him up. Definitely. Because he's not the person I was thinking of. Exactly, yep. Wow, that would have been Ellen and Timmy's, they would have done this together and then they would have moved on to do a complete unknown. Oh, I know.

That's right. Elle Fanning replaced Carey Mulligan. Carey Mulligan was originally cast, again do a complete unknown. Oh, I know. That's right. Elle Fanning replaced Carey Mulligan. Carey Mulligan was originally cast, again a bit of- Again a much younger- Age difference there for sure. Bunk is, oh my God. Oh, I hear him.

He's so loud. This is the time where he normally looks out the front door and I have to close the front door when we record the podcast because of noise. Oh, Jesus Christ. I can really hear it. It's so loud. Oh my God. Okay.

And then the first choice for the Jenna Malone part was Evan Rachel Wood. That I could really see. Yeah. I can see them being up for the same roles a lot. And they're both great. Can't lose in that. You can't lose. All of these, they all seem-

All of these are so fun. Seem really good. Really fun. And that's all the trivia that I have. What a great cast. I'm excited. Yeah. I think we're gonna have a good time.

But let's take a look at this trailer so we can get the color palette. Because if you can believe it, it is quite neon. Super neon. Fun. We'll have a little something to picture while we talk about it. Wow, let's do it.

Let's do it. I see 20 or 30 girls come in here every day. From small towns, with big dreams. Some girls crack under the pressure. You? You're going to be great. What's it feel like to walk into a room? It's like in the middle of winter. You're the sun. It's everything. You're the sun.

It's everything. You know what my mother used to call me? Dangerous. You're a dangerous girl. She was right. I am dangerous. I'm excited. Me too. A great score by Cliff Martinez.

He did Drive as well. I think they worked together on most things. Cliff Martinez also did all the music for The Nick. Henley, I feel like you watched that. Ooh, I did watch The Nick. I don't know how. I use his music a lot for temp tracks when I'm editing. So big Cliff Martinez fan.

But yeah, good vibes all around. Good vibes. Great vibes. Who's the neon demon? Is it Elle? Is it fame? Is it beauty? Is it modernity?

What's a neon demon? I guess we're gonna find out. Yeah. They're all just so beautiful. So beautiful. They're so beautiful. Oh my God. Yeah.

Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. But there's a price to pay for beauty. There's a price to pay for beauty. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Okay. Interesting, interesting. And Elle really looks 16 and we'll just keep that in mind also in this retelling. Because it was not that she looks like a fully adult woman now, like she still looks really young. Very youthful, yeah. Very youthful.

But it was jarring to me seeing just how young she looks and keeping that in mind for what this movie is saying about the modeling industry and just like all of the entertainment industry in general, how we like value this, literally like this level of youth is like so creepy and weird. It's so weird. It makes me wanna look up how old Carey Mulligan is

because I feel like it's such a good choice to have this actress be this young. And yeah, Carey Mulligan is quite a bit older than Elle Fanning. Yeah. Carey Mulligan's 39 currently and Elle is 26. So she would have been an adult woman. A lot older, yeah.

Yeah. And it's, yeah, cause models, aren't a lot of models like 14 when they start working or something like really- Yeah. It's crazy. Children. When you look at like pictures of Lily Rose Depp, that like 13, 14 and how much she was sexualized,

it like really freaks me out. It really, it's so wild. Yeah, at a time when your brain is literally like developing fastest to have so much input on your physical appearance from other people and that being valued is yeah, so extremely damaging. Yeah, and how desperately you wanna be like adult

and beautiful and attractive. You just don't understand the implications of that and like what it is doing to you. Like, oof, ooh. And how there's like so much more to life than just that, but it's hard to see it when you're like, culture is telling you otherwise. Yeah.

I mean, I think probably Lily Rose Depp had like some other stuff going on and this might be like some other complicated stuff, but yeah. But yeah, it's just, it's wild, man. Yeah. So an interesting world to explore for sure for horror especially because there's some dark shit happening here and we're going to get into it. Let's get into it.

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for so long for this shot, because it's one continuous shot just pulling out from her laying motionless on this couch. It's very gorgeous though, she's like got beautiful makeup on and a beautiful dress. But apparently Elle Fanning kept her eyes open so long for this shot that her contacts melted to her eyes from the hot, hot lights, the satellites.

Which I feel like can't be true because surely that would blind you or at least do permanent damage. But also like maybe she doesn't need contacts for this shot. Right. Yeah, so lesson learned there. We're seeing, again, it's just staying on L

as we're seeing camera lights flashing. And because we know what movie it is, we're suspecting that this is a photo shoot, but it is kind of treading the line between crime scene and photo shoot. Are these crime scene photographers or fashion photographers? And then the camera finally turns around to reveal the fashion photographer. This is Dean, which is Carl Glusman.

Not to be confused with Mikael Huseman. Not to be confused. And this is Elle Fanning not to be confused with Bill Hader. So everyone just get it straight. Just make sure you're picturing it right. Yes. fanning with just this mix of lust and hunger and almost hatred. It's like looking like he wants to just devour her. It's a very scary look. And then the photo shoot is over. There's no dialogue. A lot of this movie is just long shots and music and intense looks.

So the movie is almost two hours long, but I think the recap will be kind of quick because there's just a lot of drawn out looks, which are great. It's very vibey and would have been very fun to see in theaters, I think. So now Elle Fanning goes into the dressing room after the shoot and she's wiping the fake blood off of herself with tissues, just tiny little tissues. She has so much fake blood on herself. She's essentially using little Q-tips, Kleenexes to wipe it off. It's very inefficient. And in the dressing room with her is Jenna Malone, who introduces herself as Ruby.

And we find out that Elle Fanning's name is Jessie. I'll try to call them their character names, but no promises. It's tough, it's tough. Ruby steps in to help Jessie wiping the blood off, still with the tissues though. But now two of them are doing it. They're tag-teaming it. Nobody's acting in this as naturalistic. This movie is not going for realism at all. All of the dialogue is very stilted and theatrical feeling. And so Ruby also immediately has a vibe of being just completely drawn to

Jesse and almost basically everyone's relationship with her is looks to be predator and prey. Jesse just seems like this very young, fresh-faced, innocent young girl where everyone else is licking their teeth, looking at her, wanting to be near her. So Ruby's asking her, you must be new to LA, you've got that look about you, what do your parents think about you being here? And Jesse reveals that her parents are dead and so they don't think about it. We don't get much of a backstory about Jessie other than that, but it's clear that her dream- No one's looking out for her. No one's looking out for her and she's very determined to model. So Ruby invites Jessie to go to a party with her. Ruby is the makeup artist, by the way. She's not a model. And so Jessie accompanies Ruby to this very hip party, neon lights,

everybody very hot. And Jessie walks in in this flowy floral dress, just looking so out of place. She looks like Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. She just looks so childlike where everyone else is like high fashion models. And the contrast is very obvious, but everyone is still really drawn to her youth. You see men in the club turning and looking at her. Everybody is noticing her as she walks in. Ruby guides her to meet her friends, Sarah and Gigi. Sarah is Abby Lee. Gigi is Bella Heathcote.

Both of them are actually Australian, but only Sarah is playing Australian in this. Thought that was interesting. Sarah and Gigi are also immediately captivated by Jessie's youth and natural beauty, and she's glowing, and they're asking her, is that your real nose? Is that your natural hair? And they're like, oh my God, you're stunning. Gigi says how she's had a lot of work done to look as good. All of these women are absolutely drop dead gorgeous, by the way. But Gigi is saying how she's had a lot of work done to get their set nose job. She's had a nose job. She's had a lot of Botox and she's addicted to plastic surgery in a way. So she's envious of Jessie's natural beauty. They all go to the bathroom together and they're putting on lipstick. There's a comment about how Ruby likes Gigi's lipstick and she

how Ruby likes Gigi's lipstick and she says how it's called Red Rum, a shining reference, but then talks about how studies have shown that women are more likely to buy makeup if it's named after food or sex. So they talk about like cherry pie and I can't remember the other things they're listing off, but that the colors are kind of tied between food and sex. And they're all saying what they would name their lipstick. And then they turn to Jesse and say, are you food or are you sex? Jesse is so intimidated by these women and trying to act like she's one of them, but is clearly unfamiliar with this world. I'd name it the big pink dick.

One of them says pink pussy, and those could be a duo. You could buy them both in this big pink dick. Someone did do a series on this about all the makeup, because there's obviously like NARS Orgasm, which is one of the more popular. Work it into the poem. Work it into the poem. Add it to the poem. Add it to the poem.

Okay. And they're talking about guys they've hooked up with, and they're asking Jessie if she prefers men or women, and Jessie again is looking in over her head, says, uh, man, I've been with lots of men, obviously. Uh, we're suspicious, but she's, yeah, again, just like clearly intimidated and trying to say what she thinks she should be saying. Gigi's again talking about all her plastic surgery and says how her plastic surgeon calls her the bionic woman. And they're all laughing except for Jessie who kind of gives her a look and says, is that a good thing? And Gigi gets this dirty look on her face and immediately says, so I hear your parents are dead. Okay. So clearly we're not all bonding and becoming

friends here. The vibe is not friendly. It's sizing each other up. Competitive. Yeah, competitive and just a little cutthroat. So someone says, I'm going back out there. I hear there's a performance happening. And so they all walk out back into the club where there's strobe lights happening,

epilepsy warning. It's like so stroby for so long that it's very disorienting, but it's really cool. We're just seeing all of their faces as they're watching this performance of somebody in bondage being lifted into the air. It's kind of ballet, contortionist-esque. Very cool. I feel like it's her kind of stepping into this world that's so extremely foreign to her. And this is where her face is looking for the first time a little bit more intrigued rather than intimidated. We cut to her at her motel the next day. We found out Jesse's staying at a motel in Pasadena. Oh, yes. Where everyone comes to live out their Hollywood dreams.

And she is getting dressed. She has this like blonde curly hair and is wearing these floral flowy dresses. She's looking like a young Taylor Swift. I bet Taylor Swift was on the mood boards for her character. And she goes to a modeling agency for a meeting with Christina Hendricks, who gives this very stilted performance intentionally. It's not like, but she's saying a lot of women come in here, a lot of girls come in here, and most of them don't have anything, but you, you're going to be something very special. It kind of almost feels like the substance at times where it just is. Yeah, that's giving substance vibes. Yeah, where just nobody is sounds like a real person.

And it's like a parable about like beauty and consumption of beauty. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Okay. I just realized this made me think, it made me pull up my freaking celebrity list of celebrities I've seen. And Christina Hendrix should be on there and she isn't.

I'm adding her in right now. Oh my God, yeah. Add her. Is it updated, Emily? That's a great one. Is it updated, your celebrity list? It is. This was a while ago, but I just, I missed it.

When did you see Christina Hendrix? Joel and I saw her at Freedman's, when it used to be Freedman's. John Slattery's on there. And I know John Ham's on there. John Slattery and John Ham are both on here. He got a lot of the Mad Men casts. And so is Elle Fanning.

Oh, I think I've seen Elle Fanning as well. Anyway. I've seen Kiernan Shipka many times, so that's another Mad Men. That's another Mad Men. That's another Mad Men. Mad Woman. That's a Madman. That's another madman. That's a mad woman. Anyway, okay.

Okay, so- Oh, Jenna Malone's on my list too. Anyway, let's keep going. Let's keep going. They're having this conversation. Christina Hendricks also immediately sees Jessie's beauty potential, magnetism, knows she's gonna be something great.

She signs her to the agency immediately, makes her forge a parent signature, says, tell everyone you're 19 if they ask, 18 is too on the nose. And she refers her to this famous respected fashion photographer named Jack, says he's going to do a test shoot for you. She's looking at the photos she was taking in the beginning with her eyes open when her contacts were melting onto her eyes that were taken by Dean and basically making fun of them saying, we need to get you some like better photos than these. These ones aren't very good. These are too weird. So a little amateur, we got to get you in a shoot with Jack. So she goes

home after this, just feeling pretty excited. And Dean comes by her motel and is asking her, you know, did they ask about my photos? Did they think my photos were good? So he's clearly done these photos for free in hopes that it would get him noticed. It did not. They go on a little date. He does look young, but she's obviously younger and she tells him they told me to lie about my age and say that I'm 19. And he says, how old are you? And she says, Oh, I'm 16. And he has a moment of like, well, I better go. I think I left the stove on. But then is like, ha, I'm 16. And he has a moment of like, ooh, well, I better go. I think I left the stove on. But then is like, ha, just kidding.

We can still hang out. But we really shouldn't. We really shouldn't. How old are you, Dean? How old are you, Dean? If you're not 16 or 17, you're too old. That's too old. Don't worry, Dean.

Too old, Dean. Yeah. So, but they have what seems to be a pleasant date. He does try to kiss her at the end of it. She turns away. But then she says, I do wanna see you again. So I guess we're just, okay. We're taking it slow.

Because we're children. About one of us is. One of us is at least. She walks back up to her motel room, puts her keys in the door, tries to turn on the light but the power seems to be out. It's not turning on and then she sees a shadow moving behind her bed like a little figure in her room. It's pretty scary.

It was unexpected. It spooked me. She screams, she closes the door, and she runs to the motel manager's office, bangs on the gate, Keanu Reeves answers. Oh my God. Oh my God, we feel safe with Keanu. He's gonna be good, right?

He's not gonna be bad? I'd love to knock on a door and have Keanu Reeves answer. Oh my God. Don't be bad, don't be bad, Keanu, come on. I hate to tell you, he's not the best Keanu, but either way, we still love to see him. Still a sight for sore eyes. Still a sight for sore eyes,

but he's very annoyed to be being bothered. He's saying, what do you want? And he's just being rude to her. And she's saying, there's somebody in my room, something in my room. And he's not gonna help her. But then she's like, okay, I guess I'll just call the police then, because I'm scared to go in there. And he's not going to help her. But then she's like, okay, I guess I'll just call the police then because I'm scared to go in there. And he's

like, no, no, no, don't call the police. Don't call the police. We'll go look. And so he grabs one of his employees and a baseball bat and they go up to her room and open the door. Some light comes on now so that they can see the room and it's completely trashed. He immediately starts yelling at Jessie. It's like, you're paying for this. I'm going to be charging you. You're going to get an invoice. This is crazy. And she says, I didn't do any of this. That's what I'm trying to tell you. There's something in here. And then from the shadow out jumps a freaking mountain lion. Wait, what? Wait, what? And it's a mountain lion in her room. This is a thing that there are mountain lions

in Los Angeles. Wow, so this isn't a dream. This isn't a metaphor. This is a real thing that's happening. I think it probably is a metaphor. It is a metaphor, of course, of course. But it's literally happening. In the world of the movie, it's also real.

It is literally happening. And this was pre, this is when P22 was still alive. So could have been P22. It could happen to anyone. Could happen to anyone. Could happen to anyone. So really don't wanna encounter Mountain Lion in a closed space.

No. No. And Keanu Reeves is still just yelling at her like, I don't care, you're still paying for this. This is... Can't charge the mountain lion. Can't charge the mountain lion. This is on you. So, just has kind of like a long shot on Jessie's face staring at this mountain lion.

Like, what is this a world I've gotten into? Filled once again with predators. Cut straight to her test shoot with Jack, who's played by Desmond Harrington, who is from Dexter. Yep, and Gossip Girl. And Gossip Girl, that's right. He plays Chuck's brother, I believe, Jack. He really looks like Jack.

He's also a very scary looking guy. He's like. He's also a very scary looking guy. He's like hot. Very scary guy. Scary hot. Very hot. Where he when he's making the like hungry predator face, you were like, oof. Yikes. He's a scary looking guy for sure.

Yeah, you don't want this guy looking at you like that. I feel like he's in something else we've covered. Yeah, I think you're right. We've talked about him before, but... Jesse arrives at this photo shoot and Ruby is there doing the makeup and they look very happy to see each other. What is he in?

Ghost ship, he's in ghost ship. Oh, that's funny. He's also in the hole. Haven't covered it yet. It's on the list. But will be at some point, it's on the hole. Haven't covered it yet. But it will be at some point. It's on the list. Incredible. Okay, great. So Jessie seems relieved to see a familiar face

at this photo shoot. Ruby takes her into the dressing rooms doing her makeup. It's a very cool and metallic look, like gluing on. So it's a little cool and metallic look, like gluing on. It's a little like euphoria esque. She's got some like metal metallic details all over her face, looks kind of robotic. And when they first walk in, there's another model that's currently being photographed. And I thought this was a very funny choice. There's no moving of positions. This model is just holding one pose the whole time

and nobody else is moving. Everyone's just standing still, essentially taking the same photo over and over and over. Really made me laugh. And so then Jesse is ready and walks out with her makeup done really cool, but still in this very... Taylor Swift outfit. Taylor Swift outfit.

Taylor Swift outfit and... Like a trad wife, prairie girl. It is like a prairie dress, yes. And Jack gets a look at her for the first time. Essentially, yes. He calls out to everyone, says, "'Thank you guys, everyone, for your work. This is gonna be a close set for this next one,

so you can all leave. Oh, no. We're not liking that. I hate that. And Ruby says, I don't mind staying. I can clock out and stay. We're friends. He says, no. No, don't like that either.

She reluctantly leaves. Jessie looks nervous, but not necessarily scared. I think she feels flattered a little bit to be, she's so determined to be a model that she's like, this must be a good thing. She's a little innocent about it, I'm getting special one-on-one attention from this famous photographer. This is great. Is it literally just the two of them? Literally just the two of them. Oh.

I hate it. And yeah, she looks to me more nervous about the work. The work, like wanting to impress him. She's not aware of the other dynamic going on. And so everybody leaves, it's just the two of them. to impress him. She's not aware of the other dynamic going on. And so everybody leaves, it's just the two of them. The set is just one of those white sheets of paper. And so it's fills the whole frame in a way that it looks like they're floating like that

scene in The Matrix where it's like the loading zone, it's just an empty white space. And Jack looks at her. He never smiles. He's got this very intense face and just says, take off your clothes. She very slowly and awkwardly takes off her dress. We see her in her bra and underwear kind of trying to cover herself a little bit. And he asks her what's wrong? You need to take off all your clothes. We get a close up. We're not seeing actual 16-year-old nudity. Thank God. I got a little

nervous. I really got scared for a second. But still horrible what is happening. She is getting naked in front of this adult man. And then the lights turn off and it goes completely dark. And then this again kind of strobe light effect starts happening. And Jack walks up to her with a bucket of gold paint and just starts covering her body with gold paint. All the little metallic details on her face are gold. So she's just becoming this kind of like gold statue

looking thing. It feels like something we could have and should have used the makeup artist for. Yeah. Yep, you would think. And then he takes her photo. And so nothing actively sexual happens. I mean, I guess it's a little sexual,

but it didn't go to the worst case scenario that our brain was imagining. Still very bad, still very inappropriate. Yeah, still definitely pushing the boundaries of what should be happening in a professional setting. But she leaves it being like, wow, that went really well because she could see how inspired he was and how she walks outside.

Ruby is there waiting for her and Jessie's smiling, saying it went really well. Ruby is looking like a little disappointed in her, saying like you really shouldn't be alone with him, which really isn't the most helpful way to approach that conversation. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Let's not put the onus on the 16 year old. Yeah. She's not aware of what's going on. Oh, position of power. Yeah. And Ruby is not like giving the vibe of protector either. Yeah, I know it's like, yeah, on the one hand it is good of her to not leave her alone, but I feel like it's also like,

I don't like that she feels like some ownership of her as well. So Ruby gives Jesse her phone number. He says, call me anytime, anything you need, day or night, if you need anything. And so, Jessie goes home. Ruby goes to meet Gigi and Sarah for lunch, and tells them that she's just coming back from this shoot with Jack, and lets them know that Jessie was there. Jessie was at the shoot. Gigi and Sarah are both immediately upset to hear this. They're like, Jack doesn't shoot test photos for people. That's not something he does. And Ruby's like, I don't know what to tell you. She was there. They're looking insecure and jealous about this saying, Gigi's kind of like, well, it's fine. I mean, she's nothing special yet. And Sarah's a little bit more like, our expiration dates are coming up and why would you want old milk when there's

fresh meat in the building or whatever? So a pretty explicit conversation about just how she's the new young hot thing and they didn't even know that she was at this photo shoot. They were not invited to this photo shoot with Jack and so there's jealousy and competitiveness happening here. Then there's this really amazing shot that was in the trailer of all these women in bras and underwear and heels at a audition. They're at a runway audition for this fashion designer. And this shot is just staged like an editorial spread. I don't know. It was just a very cool shot. Slow pullout revealing just all these essentially almost naked women just standing in this room waiting to be judged.

Oh, God. That was in the trailer. And it looks like, yeah, it looks like a Vanity Fair Yeah, exactly. spread when they have like young Hollywood. Also, it's like are all of them wearing black underwear, except for she's wearing like a girly little florally.

Hers are more girly, yes. Yeah. But Sarah is also there. And I think her underwear is not girly, but it is nude colored. But yeah, so they do kind of stand out and they're being lined up one after another and they just have to in front of this male fashion designer and his assistant do a walk back and forth so that they can watch and decide who's going to be in this fashion show. And Sarah goes first, Sarah's called up, and something is whispered to the fashion

designer like, this is Sarah, you remember Sarah, and then like whispers something in his ear and he kind of gives a look like, oh, right, like he's not excited to see this and Sarah looks immediately really uncomfortable, but does her walk and it's a great walk as far as I can tell. But the designer is not even watching. He's got a pocket square that he's refolding. He's completely focused on that. As she finishes the walk, she sees that he has not paid attention at all. So she says, should I go again? He says, no, thanks. We're good. Next calls up Jesse.

Sarah's devastated, did not go well for her. But as soon as Jesse walks up, this designer is captivated by her, clearly focusing on her 100% and asks her how old she is. She says she's 19. He's like, okay, let's see what you got. She does a walk also, very good walk, as far as I can tell. Yeah, I can never tell. I can't tell unless someone falls.

Obviously insane. Yeah. I don't know what makes a good walk. Taking like big wide steps. Crab walking. Like clomping around like a horse. Clomp, clomp, clomp. Unless you're on all fours, I think it's fine. Walked on two legs, got from point A to point B,

seems like pretty good walk. Pretty good. legs, got from point A to point B, seems like pretty good work. Pretty good. Jesse is obviously crushing it in the designer's eyes. He's just completely enamored with her. We see Sarah watching and kind of quietly crying. She's like embarrassed and jealous and feels like... We don't have any idea what was whispered, do we?

No, but I think it was like a good, it was like an effective moment that just made me feel like, oh, like she's been in the industry long enough that there's some gossip around her type of thing. And so it's like, maybe she has had a bad interaction with this designer or something just like there's, it to me was just something that was like, oh, she has like history in the industry, whereas Jesse is like a new face. Brand new. Brand new.

We don't know anything about her. She's mysterious and. She's a clean slate for us to write all over. Exactly. Yeah. We see after the audition, Sarah goes to the bathroom, is crying and staring at herself in the mirror, eyes filled with hatred and anger,

and grabs a trash can, smashes the mirror, and Jesse hears this outside and comes in to check on her. And it's just the two of them in the bathroom when Sarah asks Jesse, you know, what's it like to be, how does it feel when you walk in a room and it feels like the middle of winter and you're the sun and everyone's drawn to you and whatever. And Jessie has this moment of considering and she has this like happy look on her face and she says, it's everything. And this enrages Sarah. Yeah. A little oblivious of you, Jessie. You want to be like, oh, it's not like that. No, it's-

Jessi, you gotta wake up to some of the dynamics. Read the room, Jessi, read the room. So Sarah lunges at her with a piece of the broken mirror and cuts her hand, her palm, open. It's like very quick and surprising. Jesse is shocked and Sarah grabs her hand and puts it up to her mouth and starts essentially like sucking blood from her.

Oh! Okay. And Jesse runs out of the bathroom. Now we cut to Ruby showing up at her second job at the morgue. Which honestly kind of makes sense. At first I was like, this is weird, but she's doing makeup for the corpses. Yeah, okay.

Someone's got to do it for those open caskets. I imagine there'd be kind of different skills at play, but... 100%. But, you know, maybe the same basics. Seen one face, seen them all. And then, yeah, we just see her kind of doing makeup on the corpse. Is that going to be Elle Fanning at the end? Is that going to be the final shot?

Possibly. Her doing makeup on Elle Fanning's corpse? Possibly. Slow fade out? We'll find out. We'll find out. We'll find out. We see that Jessie has run back to her motel. She's trying to tend to her hand.

It's bleeding a lot. This is a big cut. This looks like maybe a hospital type situation. But she's rinsing it. And somebody's saliva got into her open wound. Like, I'm absolutely going to the hospital. She gonna turn into a vampire? Ooh, that'd be cool.

Wait, isn't there a pretty sick vampire? Well, there's a lot of vampires. There's Nosferatu, but remember, wasn't there one that was 80s vampire? Why can't I remember now? Oscar Isaac and Kristen Stewart? I don't think they've shot it yet. Or it hasn't come out yet. We've only seen the news of it.

But yeah, fuck, hell yeah. Yeah, fuck, hell yeah. Fuck hell yeah. Fuck hell yeah. So at that moment, Dean arrives at her motel, is knocking on the door, and as she answers the door, he has flowers for her. She grabs the flowers and then collapses,

passes out from blood loss, I suppose. As she wakes up, she finds that Dean has, like, bandaged her hand, and they hug, and... His vibe is a little less predatory than everybody else's, though it's predatory in a different way, I suppose. It's less actively like, I wanna have what you have or I wanna use you, but it's still like he wants to be

has some sort of claim on her and have a claim on her. And it's a little more disguised as like a romance, sweet romance Romeo and Juliet thing, but it's also like she's 16. Yeah, there's no way for it not to be predatory, even if you don't intend for it to be when one person is a child and another person is an adult. Exactly.

So Dean goes down to the hotel manager, Keanu, and says he's trying to work out the details of how much money she's apparently owes him. And he's arguing with Keanu saying, like, I don't think she should have to pay it. It's not her fault. There was an outline that came in and Keanu says, you know, like, she left the sliding door open. That's on her. And so they work out a deal. I think he has $140 cash and Keanu says, deal, you'll be sold. And so Dean pays him $140 and then Keanu asks him like, what are you getting out of this with this girl?

I just want to make sure you are getting yours type of thing. If you're like cleaning up all of her messes for her. type of thing if you're like cleaning up all of her messes for her. And Dean looks very off put by this comment and it's just like, um, whatever man. And Keanu says, cause if you, if you want, we've got a lot of girls here. There's a lot of girls. There's a girl in room two 14. You go check that out. She's 13. It's like some real Lolita shit. Real Lolita shit. Ew, Keanu. You are letting me down in a big way. That's disgusting. How dare you? And Dean looks disgusted by this, walks off. We cut to at the runway show now that Jessie will be walking in for this designer. And Gigi is also walking in this show.

Gigi's the one that's had all the plastic surgery done. She says, it's also Bella Heathcote and it just made me laugh that Bella is playing Gigi. Ah! What universe are we in? And she's again just listing off all the work that she's had done. She said she's had her jaw shaved down and was like, oh, and Jesse is looking so confused by this.

Like, why, why do you do all of that? Isn't it hurt? And Gigi says, well, nobody likes the way they look. And Jesse says, I do. Again, just not making any friends. Honey, honey. Do you want to die? And at that moment, the designer comes over and asks Jesse to close the show. He says, I would decide I want you to close the show.

We see Gigi looking really upset. And then the show begins. And this is all filmed in a very surreal way. We never see any audience. It just goes completely black and there's glowing neon triangles. We see kind of it's all like super slow motion. There's profiles of models and in the back comes Jessie. She's wearing now like head to toe black with her hair pulled back really tight instead of her normal like flowy ringlets.

She's looking more like a top model. Then it becomes, it's like, I think this is kind of happening in her head a bit. There's this transformative moment where there are mirrors around her in this triangular shape. We're seeing the reverse shot of Jessie looking up at the mirrors and she looked so wide-eyed and innocent and looking a little afraid of her own reflection. And we're seeing her reflection with a more confident, predatorial face, looking more like everybody else in the movie and turning to each side

of the triangle mirror situation and kissing her reflection back and forth and just looking like more confidently sexual and in her element and just exuding this energy that previously we haven't seen from Jessie. And so it's just this kind of surreal moment where this feels like the the transformation of like, OK, it's real now. You you're walking in this show. You've like made it. You're a model. And there's still an innocent part of her that's a little afraid of this, but this, like, mirror part is showing, you know,

multiple reflections of her, so it kind of seems more powerful. I'm doing, like, an analysis as I'm describing it. No, I really, I like this. This is interesting. Because I feel like innocent, yes, but also maybe she's herself. She's just whoever she is right now. And then this is the moment where she becomes the person that they want her to be. And she turns into the reflection of herself.

And it's not her necessarily, it's she becomes like who they want. And that's so dark and sad. And I don't like it. Yes. But okay. Yeah. And so then after this runway show, they go to dinner at a nearby place.

It must be like, kind of has a Musso and Frank's vibe, like the place to go after these shows. And she's with Dean, Jessie's with Dean, but we see the fashion designer with Gigi and another model that must have been walking in the show. They don't sit together, but they sit near them. And she introduces Dean to them, to the fashion designer. She's like, oh, this is Dean.

And the fashion designer says, your name is Bean? That's funny. No, Dean. He's like, oh. They're paying no attention to Dean Bean. And they don't let them sit with them. Gigi seems annoyed that she's even there. She's like, no, there's no room at our booth, so sorry.

And then they get into this discussion. The restaurant is pretty empty and so basically like they can hear everything that everybody is saying anyways. They get into this discussion about beauty, where the fashion designer is talking about how if you're not born beautiful, you never will be, which is hitting Gigi in a spot because she's had a lot of work done. And he's kind of, it seems like he knows this and he's like trying to take a dig at her by being like, you can't create something that's not already there. And he calls Dean over and is like,

look at Gigi, we'll do a little example. We'll do a test. Dean, look at Gigi. Do you think she's beautiful? And Dean looks uncomfortable. He He's essentially on a date with Jesse. And so he's like, yeah, I mean, I guess she's fine. And the fashion designer is like, yes, that's exactly the word I would use, she's fine. Oh my God. Gigi is really upset, obviously. The fashion designer says, And now look at Jessie, like

so beautiful. Obviously, she's the most beautiful person here. This is a very explicit conversation like making everybody feel bad about themselves, except for Jessie who is now being held like on this pedestal. And she, Jessie, like we were talking about, has a different energy to her now. She's looking very... What's a good word? It's not robotic, but a little, like... Unemotional. She's just kind of... Sort of stoic.

Stoic. Cold. Is she like dead behind the eyes all of a sudden? Mm-hmm. Oh, my God, I hate this. I hate it so much. And so the designer is saying true beauty is the highest currency we have and like beauty isn't everything.

It's the only thing. And all these very dramatic statements about beauty. Dean is like, I don't think that's true. Like true beauty's on the inside. And fashion designer kind of rolls his eyes and they're laughing at Dean. Like what a joke. He doesn't understand that beauty's the only thing.

And Dean is embarrassed and turns to Jesse and says, let's get out of here. I want to go. And Jesse looks at him, says, so go. Oh man, Jesse, your beauty is going to expire just like everyone else's in this world. Just like everyone else's. So. We cut to later that night, her coming home from the restaurant. She's now in like a sequined top and tight leather pants, like completely

different style than before. And Dean is on the steps waiting for her, kind of confronts her says, so what? That's you want to be one of them now? Is that who you are? She very matter of factly says, I don't want to be them, they want to be me. And... Oh, you are so wrong. And walks into her hotel, her motel closes the door behind her and falls asleep. We get a POV shot of someone walking down the motel hallway towards her motel room,

opening the door. This looks like the middle of the night now. It's completely dark. She's asleep on the bed. This person's coming in. We see their shadow and finally reveal it is Keanu. God damn it, Keanu. God damn it, motherfucker.

He pulls out a knife. Oh. He's like standing over her sleeping body. And he very slowly... places the knife like in front of her mouth and nose, almost to like check if she's breathing, you know how it would fog up. But then he turns the knife vertically and slips it into her.

Her mouth is just like open a little bit. Ah! And he's like slowly pressing the knife into her mouth until she wakes up, when her eyes go wide and she like doesn't move and she's just like, oh, oh! And he says, wider. Ah!

No. And she's like having to, cause if she sits up, she's gonna get stabbed in the throat. So she's just having to like open her mouth wider and wider as he's like pushing it in. And then she wakes up on the motel floor the next morning, like clutching her throat, like I think it was a dream sequence.

Okay, so it wasn't real. I hope not. We don't know. But there's someone jiggling the doorknob and she does the like deadbolt on the door. She's freaked out whether it's a dream or not. It was unpleasant. Gotta always do that deadbolt baby. Always do that deadbolt.

And she's hearing someone outside trying to get into her room and they can't get in. And so they go to the room next door to hers. She's 212. So 214 is next door to hers. And then they hear that door open and then just like screaming. And she calls Ruby. Should be calling the police. But again, this all feels kind of surreal. It doesn't feel like people are making real choices. But the implication is not good. She's crying on the phone to Ruby saying,

I think they're killing her. I don't know if they tried to kill me. I don't know what's happening. She's 13. And Ruby says, stay there, I'll come get you. Ruby comes to get her, takes her to her house, beautiful mansion, big pool. They pay a lot at morgues.

Yeah. They pay a lot at morgues. Jessie does say, I love your house. And she says, it's not my house. She's like, what? Oh, okay. She says, I'm house sitting. Okay. She shows her to a room and it's like, you can stay here. They are sitting on the edge of the bed. When Ruby starts trying to kiss her, Jesse pushes her away and Ruby's like, what? What's wrong?

And she says, it's not what you think. I've just, I've never been with anyone in that way. And Ruby is smiling and is like, oh, that's okay. Like this is going to be great. Again, like more aggressively now starts kissing her, pushing her back onto the bed. Jesse also more aggressively, pushes her back, says, no, I don't want to do this. I said, stop. Pushes her off. Jenna Malone looks pretty upset.

Ruby, Ruby. And she stands up, brushes herself off. It's like, fine. I gotta go to work anyways. The morgue. Ruby goes to the morgue and the corpse she's working on has blonde curly hair, looks reminiscent of Jessie and Ruby is clearly very turned on by this. Oh, okay.

Okay, where are we going with this? Where are we going with this? It's going where you think it is. Okay, lovely. And Ruby locks the door to the morgue, pulls off that blanket over the corpse, and it's cutting between her imagining Jesse being seductive and touching herself and seducing Ruby to what is actually happening, which

is that she is making out with the corpse and masturbating. Eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, eew, on top of the corpse and like, do a masturbating. Do a masturbating. Do a masturbate. And I just have a really hard time believing that, but. Yeah, me too. Yeah, who knows? Who knows? It's a gross scene, but it's supposed to be a gross scene.

These are repulsive people. Yeah. And we see back at the mansion, But it's supposed to be a gross scene. These are repulsive people. Yeah. Yep. Yep. And we see back at the mansion, Jessie is doing her makeup, putting a ton of glitter all over her face. She still has this vacant stare with a hint of vanity in there now. She's now just staring at her reflection, clearly loving what she's seeing and she's

just feeling herself. there now. She's now just staring at her reflection, clearly loving what she's seeing. She's just feeling herself. Nothing can go wrong. She's on top of the world. She walks out to the pool. It's a drained pool, so it's empty. It has a diving board and she's just standing at the end of the diving board when Ruby comes home and finds her there and calls out to her, you know, what are you doing? Jesse starts this kind of haunting monologue saying, you know what my mother used to call me?

She called me dangerous. You're a dangerous girl. And she was right. And Ruby's just watching her. It's a lot of long stares now. A lot of just watching her. It's a lot of long stares now, a lot of just vibes. She's like, you're talking in a way that the cadaver I was just making out with never does. Jesse turns around, walks off the diving board, walks back into the house, and Gigi is there looking at her. Everyone's kind of emotionless. We're all just sizing each other up, looking bored, honestly. Everyone looks a little

bored. And Jesse asks Gigi, are we having a party or something? And then at that moment from another hallway bursts out, Sarah punches Jesse, knocks her to the ground. And apparently in this Abby Lee accidentally did punch Elphie Hanning. And you can kind of tell because it looks like, I mean, it is, her getting punched. And the three of them are now turning on Jesse. So it's Ruby, Gigi, and Sarah with various weapons. Sarah's got a fire poker, love to see it. They corner, Jesse runs back outside towards the pool, but they corner her.

So if it was like Northeast, Southwest, three sides are each of the women and then the empty pool is behind her. And Ruby walks up and shoves her into the pool. And this is a deep empty pool. So she falls like, I don't know, six to eight feet, like fully horizontal and like it's bad, lands on cement. We see her, she looks like the opening scene of It Follows where her like arms and legs are bent at the

wrong direction and she's twitching, a pool of blood is forming behind her head. She's definitely dying. This does not look good. We see just the kind of out of focus, blurry outlines of the three women coming toward her in the pool as she's kind of twitching and and dying. And then we cut to Jenna Malone, Ruby, in a bathtub filled with blood, covered in blood, neon lights, electronic music, very vibey, vibey, vibey, vibey. Just close up on her face covered in blood, watching something, pulls out, long, long pull out. Then turn to reveal Sarah and Gigi in the shower washing blood off of their bodies. It's like a absolute blood bath, but very sexy model blood bath, neon lights flashing and just like slow motion naked showering

tons of blood off of them. Don't really know what happened, but we could guess where all that blood came from. And we cut to the next morning, Ruby watering her plants in the garden, topless. Then she goes and lays in a grave that she's dug in the yard, presumably for Jessie. These are again just long shots of her, not remorseful at all. Then it's nighttime and Ruby is in her, in this mansion under a full moon laying naked spread eagle like bathing in the moonlight. Getting very like sexual, sensual.

We're not totally sure what's happening. And then it almost looks like she's about to give birth and this like blood is pooling beneath her. Then it cuts away. You don't know what's really happened there. We never know what really happened there. Cut to Sarah and Gigi speeding down PCH, going to a photo shoot. They arrive at this Malibu looking mansion with another gorgeous pool, this one with water in it. And there's another blonde, beautiful model there that's going to be in this photo shoot. They're getting their hair and makeup done. This is the first scene that's very like sunlit and bright.

Everything else has been kind of indoor and neon night feeling, but this is like really bright and sunny. And this third model that we don't know her name is chatting with Gigi, talking about a time when a girl stole her modeling job. like basically, I don't know, she was fired unceremoniously in favor of another girl, how she was mad about it. Sarah kind of smiles. She turns to Sarah and is like, what about you? Has any other girl ever screwed you out of a job? Sarah says, yes. And she says, so what did you do about it? And Sarah says, I ate her. They laugh and laugh. And then we see that this is with Jack again, the photographer of this shoot is Jack. And Jack sees Sarah is not having her hair and makeup done. So it's just

Gigi and this other girl that are in this photo shoot. And he asked Sarah, like, why aren't you getting your hair and makeup done? She's like, I'm not, I wasn't in this. He's like, well, I'd like to use you for it if that's okay. She says, yeah, sure. And then he calls out to the other girl like, Alana, you're fired. Sends that girl home. Sarah looks pleased. She's being coveted again and she goes to hair and makeup. They both have these leather harnessy bodysuits and big sunglasses and and box braids and high heels looking like so tanned and just this very, I don't know, crazy shoot at the edge of the pool. So they're standing right in front of the pool for this photo shoot. And we're about to start and Gigi is just staring at the bottom of the pool where Jesse would have been in the other pool. And she just starts kind of gagging. She's just like,

can't focus. And so Jack is calling out to her, Gigi, what's going on? And she's like, I just need a minute. And she shuffles off. This person I ate isn't sitting well. And she walks back into the house, into the changing room. And Bella Heathcote here does such a great performance. She's crying and she's feeling suffocated by this leather harnessy thing that's wrapped around her and she's kind of unbuckling it and you feel so claustrophobic. She's like, oh God, oh God, I don't like that. And she's gagging and gasping and gurgling and she just stares at herself in the mirror.

She's just going like, I feel like if you gag enough, like surely you would just throw up. I was just being like very blown away by this performance because I was like, I don't think I could do that without actually throwing up. But she's really doing it and really gagging until she does eventually throw up. Sarah looks, like, annoyed by this. She's, like, not having any regret or remorse. And so she's like, I'll go check on her. And she walks into the room that Gigi's in. She's kind of looking at her with this look of, like, get your shit together.

Like, we don't have time for this. And Gigi throws up and out comes an eyeball. Full eyeball. Sarah looks completely nonplussed by this. She's just like, okay, like you've done. Gigi is not doing well. She's like still crying, sobbing, gagging. And she, like, I need to get her out of me. I need to get her out of me. And she sees scissors on the ground and grabs them and just starts stabbing herself in the stomach. Oh, God. Sarah's watching this, not reacting at all, still looking bored, kind of raises her lip like, ugh. And Gigi bleeds out and dies. Okay.

And Sarah just looks at her for a while and then leans down, grabs that eyeball, pops it in her mouth. That is so fucking gross. That is so gross. And eats that eyeball. And I think we do get like one little silent tear falling from her eye,

but she eats that eyeball and she goes back out to the photo shoot, presumably fucking kills it. She's a boss bitch. Ah. And that's the end of the movie. We get credits over shots of the desert and I think Sarah kind of walking in a model-y looking way.

Like she's, I think we're meant to believe she's successfully recaptured an element of alluring youth and beauty by devouring her competition. And the text comes up for Liv, who is Nicholas Whining Refn's wife, and just in the trivia, it says, this is one of the only movies of his that she likes. Oh, OK. Don't know if that's true, but really made me laugh. Yeah, that would that would suck to be like a creator. And your partner doesn't like anything that you're creating. But oh well. Oh, there's this shit again.

Wow. Holy shit, I'm like really sweaty. I'm like very sweaty right now. I'm very stressed. Yeah, not the ending you had suspected him. I thought there was gonna be more of Al Fanning's transformation. I thought they were gonna spend more plot on that,

but what, you didn't need to, you didn't need to. Yeah, you could have. I thought they were going to spend more plot on that, but... What, you didn't need to? You didn't need to? Yeah, you could have. I would have liked more... You know me, I like the gore, and so I would have liked to fully see them eating her rather than them, like, naked washing the blood off of them. Felt... Felt male gaze-y for sure, but I would have rather seen them like on their hands and knees like eating chunks of meat.

Like looking disgusting rather than extremely hot. Sexualizing cannibalism. Yeah. Yeah, I don't love that either. It's interesting they had to dig a grave if they ate her. Yeah. And what was going on with Ruby's, like, birthing blood scene? Maybe she was just, like, reborn? And also, Ruby not even, like, being a model who's competing with her,

more just wanting her for, like, sexual reasons, I guess. Oh, brother. All of this is reminding me about an essay that I would like to reread and revisit, which is, I know I've talked about it on the podcast before, I'm sure, but Tavi Gevinson wrote a long essay in The Cut about Britney Spears and kind of, like, the cut about Britney Spears and kind of like the conversation around Britney Spears and like how Britney Spears,

our perception of what power she held and like how wrong we were and also just what it says about how we perceive like beauty and power in general. And she relates it to an abusive relationship that she was in when she was like a younger person with an older man. And she says a lot of like really, I think, kind of revealing things about how we view beauty and power.

And I wanna reread that essay. Yeah, it sounds really interesting. Yeah, it's certainly a dense subject. We talked about it a lot on the substance episode, and I think we could talk and talk and talk about it and never really get to the bottom of it, because it's so pervasive in our culture. And there's just, yeah, there's so much to say about it,

but I find it really interesting and a really interesting subject for horror in particular, because it is just like... It's very visceral, viscerally relatable in terms of like the way it's been implanted in all of our minds of wanting to chase youth and beauty and perfection. And yeah, I don't know. There's just... And like, and also, I think you saying that thing of like, they all look bored. I think that's another interesting angle of it is it's like, it's boring.

It's vacant. There's like nothing else. It requires you to kind of die. Like you have to detach. So just one thing from this essay. So she's quoting Tressie McMillan Cottom who wrote in her essay in the name of beauty, beauty isn't actually what you look like.

Beauty is the preferences that reproduce the existing social order. Beauty is capital, has serious material advantages for white women at the expense of all other women, and grows in value based only on the exclusion of others." Which is exactly what this movie is about. Yeah. And they are all white in this film. And also about how beauty implies power, but it's not power. It's a currency that you can use. And the currency is dictated by the people

who actually have power. So it's misleading. Right, the value of that dollar fluctuates and there's nothing you can do about it. Right, right. And also in this essay, she talks about the difference between having real power and then being empowered. And we like to talk about feeling empowered

to do certain things, but the only way you feel empowered is if like you have had your power taken away from you to begin with. Right. Right. Yeah. And that's a great point. Devastating. Devastating. Absolutely devastating. Absolutely devastating.

Really devastating. Yeah. Fuck. Yeah. Well, cool. Whoo! Cool, cool, cool. Yeah. I mean, I really liked it. It's not a perfect movie. It's not like it doesn't...

Yeah, whatever. Whatever. You know, fuck it. Whatever. I would like to know, fuck it. Whatever. I would like to know what Al Fanning's experience of making that movie was, and also what she thinks about it now, as an older person. Yes, I'd be curious to hear what she thinks about it now.

But this is one of... Alright, this was the first movie that she did a commentary track for. She's with Nicholas Weiningrefin, so not necessarily a place where she would be able to speak freely about it. Get in another room, get in another room. I would be curious to hear what she said on that. I think the whole subject in general, I'm sure it's complicated. I don't want to put any words in her mouth, but I feel like if it were me, I think there

would be things that I would feel both ways about like empowering and exciting and then also like exploitative and like I think the nature of the film is that it kind of goes hand in hand sometimes and maybe especially in this industry of like to be successful in it is to like sacrifice certain parts of yourself and to meet other people's ideals of what you should be. So, I don't know. Elle, let us know. Elle. Yeah, Elle. I should have asked you when I saw you outside of Casa Vega

before I'd seen her. Anything about this movie I should have asked you. Oh damn, I was there, but I didn't see her. You were there, yep, yep. Anyway. Happy New Year everybody. Happy New Year. Happy New Year.

I feel good, I feel like this is starting the year right, on a great note. On a great note, yes. Well, you know, children shouldn't be allowed to act. Acting is working. Children should not work. It's true. Children should not be models, nor should they be actors.

And we can use AI for that. And that's the only thing we can use AI for. Only thing. Otherwise it's not allowed. Okay. Yep. Wow. What a world. What a freaking world. What will the future hold? A lot more AI.

We're finding out one day at a time. Yeah, that's all we can do. We're all in this together. I love you guys so much. I love you listeners. I hope everyone had a great and safe new year celebration. Make some resolutions, but don't even freaking worry about it. If you write them down, you'd be like, I love you listeners. I hope everyone had a great and safe New Year celebration. Make some resolutions,

but don't even freaking worry about it. If you write them down, you did all you needed to. You did it. You freaking did it. Congratulations. Write them down and then burn them up. We love you so much. We love you.

And there was an Australian accent in this movie, so I guess I'll do that. Oh yeah. Biggest baby baby sharing all of Adelaide. Burberry baby share in all of Adelaide. Biggest Burberry baby share in all of Adelaide. What's it like to be the sun in winter? Oh, that's good. That was good.

From all of us here at Too Scary Didn't Watch. Oh my God. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye. We made it. Thank you all for listening to another episode of Too Scary Didn't Watch. If you enjoy the show, please remember to subscribe and rate us on Spotify and Apple

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