The Neon Demon, the latest film from controversial writer/director Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive, Only God Forgives), will be released theatrically on June 24th. Bloody Disgusting had a chance to speak with Refn and the film’s composer Cliff Martinez about the film and their thoughts on the initial audience reactions and the commercial potential of it as well.

Sitting in a small room at the Hotel San Jose in Austin, TX, Refn and Martinez await my questions with a palpable sense of trepidation. It’s understandable, after all. When The Neon Demon had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last month, reactions were decidedly mixed. Ranging from standing ovations to booing and catcalling from the audience, The Neon Demon was polarizing, to say the least. It is understandable that such reactions would steel a director, no matter how proud he is of his work. When you read that something you have poured your heart and soul into is “stultifyingly vapid” and “excruciatingly pompous,” you’re allowed to be a little defensive. Still, reactions like that are exactly what Refn wants to provoke. The director is interested in starting a discussion, and that is what The Neon Demon does. I told Refn that I was lukewarm on the film (read my review) at first, but the more time I had time to let it stew in my brain, the more I liked it.  “That’s all I want to hear,” he replied.

[Related] We Visited the Set of Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon

What is fascinating about Refn is that he makes you feel like you are the one being interviewed. He loved answering a question with a question. It was as if I was back in film school and he was the teacher to my student. I brought up the mixed reception that the film was getting and Refn coolly replied, “Why do you think that is?” My reply, of course, is that the film doesn’t provide easy answers. When you walk out of the film, it is easy to immediately ask what the point of the whole thing was. Refn’s film may have a point, but he wants you to figure out what that point is. Needless to say, this is not something that is easy for many viewers to swallow, especially in a film that contains cannibalism and necrophilia.

I viewed The Neon Demon as a critique on the Los Angeles fashion/modeling world, but apparently that was not the case. “The film is not a critique,” Refn stated, “or at least not intently. I would never critique something that I watch because I think that’s very hypocritical.” Whether that was a jab at me I am unsure, but it’s an interesting thought. “I don’t believe that young people want to be told what to think,” he said. “I think that there is a need for an experience over anything else. I always feel that if I am to steal time away from someone besides entertaining them (and that’s all I am is an entertainer), then I need to give them something to react to. I would certainly want that myself.” You have to admire Refn’s mission. He wants to challenge a world where people let review aggregate websites like Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic determine whether or not they will see a movie. He wants audiences to think for themselves. He respects them and shows them that respect by making a thinking-person’s film. “Of course we know there are certain movies that are universally praised in terms of the box office,” Refn said, “but movies like that don’t ever plant a question in you. They don’t ever reverse any expectation.”

As a counter-argument, I posited that many audiences do want to be told what to think. This doesn’t necessarily make it right, but based on the reception of films like The Babadook, It Follows and The Witch, it certainly seems to be the case. Each of those films leaves a lot open to interpretation, and the general consensus among mainstream audiences were that those movies were “boring,” “not scary” or “stupid.” Refn retorted with his own thoughts on that assumption: “We live in a time where we fear more making up our own minds than having someone tell us what to do. I think that is so wrong. I do think that in the end people think it’s wrong. Entertainment is many things. And entertainment can be many things…The fun of entertainment is experiencing the unexpected. That means that certain things are not what we call standard machinery. That’s not what we do. I make films for a counterculture generation. People that desire these kinds of experiences, but also at the same time opens slowly up to a larger demographic because it’s more accessible and then it’s forever.”

None of Refn’s films are what you would call an easy watch. The Neon Demon is one that will stick with you long after you’ve seen it, but it may take another viewing to fully appreciate it. “The best things in life are acquired tastes,” Martinez said. “Alcohol, coffee, cigarettes, uni and campari. That’s the power of The Neon Demon. It doesn’t deliver all the answers quickly or easily. It fires up people’s imaginations and I think that’s the power of [Refn’s] films.” He is correct: uni is absolutely an acquired taste that I have yet to acquire, but I digress.

While there is an audience out there for a film like The Neon Demon, it’s difficult to tell how large of an audience that is. Films like The Neon Demon (though I am being generous in my assumption that there are films like The Neon Demon) usually have an issue with positive word of mouth. That isn’t a knock on the film, mind you. It simply is a film that’s a little too out there for mainstream audiences. “I think The Neon Demon has the potential to connect with people,” Martinez said. “There are a lot of commercial themes and a lot of stuff to talk about in the film that could propel it to mainstream acceptance.” Refn agreed, saying “I think it’s very accessible, but it’s what you make it. It’s like someone asks you ‘Do you think 2001: A Space Odyssey is a commercial movie?'”

Touché sir, touché.

The Neon Demon will receive a theatrical release on Friday June 24, 2016.