10 Horror Movies Audiences Couldn't Handle

Thanks to their graphic content and jaggy narratives, arthouse auteur Nicolas Winding Refn’s films generally defy comprehensive definition or explanation, but each shocks in its own unique way. The Neon Demon drags us screaming through the sparkles, sarcasm, and trauma of LA’s fashion world, following 16-year-old model Jesse (Elle Fanning) on her way in from small-town Georgia.

Linking up with fashion photographers, makeup artists, and other models, Jesse gets her start in the industry, but while her youth and beauty are her greatest assets, they are also the things the city wants to take from her. What follows is a grand melange of narcissism, sexual assault, murder, necrophilia, and cannibalism, as a neon-lit underworld shines through and consumes everyone and everything it touches.

Despite being super-aestheticised, with just about every frame of the film worthy of being hung on the wall, the lush visuals didn’t save viewers from a rough time. When it premiered at Cannes in 2016, audience members walked out, and a sizeable number of those who stayed wound up shouting abuse at the screen and booing. Suffice to say, The Neon Demon is not for everyone.