Short Review of Panos Cosmatos' "Mandy"

A hallucinogenic revenge thriller is what Panos Cosmatos’ gives us with his most recent film, Mandy. Set in the year 1983, the film follows Red (Nicolas Cage) as he seeks revenge for the brutal murder of his romantic partner, Mandy (Andrea Riseborough), by a group of cultish religious freaks. As the film moves forward, you feel like you’re falling deeper into a horrific acid trip as Red goes on a murderous rampage killing those who once wronged him. Nicolas Cage gives one of his most insane performances of all time, but in this instance it works perfectly given the absurdity of the plot. The primary issue with Mandy comes from the length of the film as it runs almost exactly two hours, which feels about thirty minutes too long considering the majority of what makes Mandy great is lacking in the early portions of the film.  

Cast: Nicholas Cage, Andrea Riseborough, Linus Roache, Olwen Fouéré, Richard Brake, Bill Duke

Director: Panos Cosmatos

Screenwriters: Panos Cosmatos, Aaron Stewart-Ahn

Producers: John Waller, Elijah Wood, Daniel Noah

Cinematographer: Benjamin Loeb

Editor: Brett W. Bachman

121 Minutes