Film #29 — 3/3 Cult or Conspiracy Films
By C. Ramsay
A hallucinatory phantasmagorical nightmare of a film that cycles through the stages of grief and their inciting incident in its 2-hour runtime, Mandy is mean-spirited but not without sympathy. There is not enough praise that can be given to its stylization—it’s hard to find fault in how the cinematography, soundtrack, score, costumes and makeup, and even the title and chapter cards come together to make something as uniquely metal as this.
Though much of the film features a strong degree of absurdity and outlandishness, the weight of the circumstances is always felt. There is a process to how things work, and a flow in how they’re affected and what they influence in turn, that grounds the story progression in comprehensibility. We see just enough of the mechanics of this microcosm to accept it for what it is and follow along for the ride.
(more…)