Devs (2020)

There are some really beautiful things happening in Alex Garland's miniseries Devs. What it has to say about humanity is kind of profound. How it gets there though is a rather heady theoretical physics sci-fi lesson. And I didn't really follow it all the way through. I barely understood enough to get the ending. The show overall is extremely slow. I don't think they really needed 8 episodes. Kenton is really absolutely necessary to the core plot; he's more of a distraction. The acting is also really robotic, probably intentionally so. Nick Offerman is certainly cast against type in a dramatic role; it's didn't quite work for me just because we know Ron Swanson and I can't dissociate him from that character.  It's all really unsettling--the sound design, the set, the giant statue of Amaya that never really plays a part but to show how weird this place is.

The Neon Demon (2016)

There is only one good thing about this movie, and that is the cinematography. Many of the shots you might find in a Vogue photoshoot. They are stylish and glitzy. The models: stoic and sexy. The first third of the film makes use of bold colors and lights, especially in the club scene. But after that, it seems like Refn gives up on style, and is just going for shock. His manner of shock is disgusting and misogynistic (and would have guessed that cannibalism would be a common theme in the Festival?). The characters are flat and one-dimensional, reducing these women to vicious animals, and one deer in the headlights.  Concerning the male characters, their stories are underdeveloped and unfinished. We are left hanging, not that I was ever really invested in them enough to care. Sure, I get the message about the modeling industry--but it is an inherently misogynistic one. As far as plot goes, there is beginning and end, but the middle is severely lacking. You are constantly asking "what the heck is happening?" Take the catwalk for example. What was the inexplicable triforce light doing there? I would go so far as to say it is boring and offensive movie.