10 Most Divisive Movies Of 2016
9. The Neon Demon
When it premiered at Cannes in early 2016, Nicolas Winding Refn’s arthouse horror The Neon Demon received both a standing ovation and a chorus of boos. This isn’t the first time the Danish auteur’s movies have divided crowds at the world’s most prestigious film festival – his last film Only God Forgives triggered exactly the same response – and it probably won’t be the last time either.
But whereas Only God Forgives gave us dismemberment aplenty, Refn really pulled out all the stops in The Neon Demon with a scene featuring the mother of all taboo subjects – necrophilia. It’s undoubtedly a deliberately provocative film. You don’t just throw in a bit of cadaver coitus into your movie without aiming to ruffle a few feathers, after all.
Though for all the understandably affronted detractors who denounced it the most offensive film of the year, there were also critics hailing it a masterpiece, a postmodern Suspiria and the like. In the end, audiences spoke and punished Refn’s latest effort with a disappointing $3.4 million in box office takings. Seems the world just isn’t ready for his kind of horror movie.