Mandy (2018)

Director: Panos Cosmatos
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Andrea Riseborough, Linus Roache
Runtime: 121 minutes

Synopsis: A man goes on a revenge mission when his wife is murdered by a religious cult.

• Performances: 6/10

Why? Nicolas Cage's best performance in a while. But still a Nicolas Cage performance. 

• Screenplay: 3/10

Why? "Mandy" is very much a style over substance project. So much that the entire plot could be resumed in a single sentence. I understand that director Panos Cosmatos' goals were of experimental nature, but I wish he spent more time on developing an engaging and interesting story to go with it.

• Costumes/Makeup: 8/10

Why? The blood and gore looked awesome, even though I was expecting more of it. 

• Editing: 6/10

Why? While the way the movie was cut was interesting from an artistic and stylistic point of view, its pacing suffered immensely, especially during its first half. "Mandy" could've and should've been much, much shorter. I also noticed some continuity errors, but they didn't affect my rating of this category.

• Cinematography: 5/10

Why? I already mentioned that "Mandy" was before anything else a stylistic project. And you will realize it as soon as the movie begins. The whole film is shot with a very monochromatic atmosphere that mostly focuses on the color red. And while I found the concept interesting at first, it eventually got dull at a certain point and I started having trouble witnessing what was happening. 

• Score/Soundtrack: 7/10

Why? Very atmospheric and brought a lot of needed tension, despite it not being very memorable. It did its job pretty well. I'm relieved to say that Johann Johansson left us on a high note.

FINAL GRADE: 6/10