Neon Lights

source: Neon Lights

Everything that supposedly happened at the house was actually mental imagery produced by the therapist (with her ground breaking treatment... as the film shows towards the end with the newspaper clip on the wall). As surely the therapist's new treatment wasnt to actually encourage her patient to "kill" (the word she used at the end) all the people that caused him grief ? Instead kill the memory that hurts you. The piece of paper he tears up at the end seemed to be a sign that he finally got rid of the demons..... BUT.... then in the car, this proves short lived as he hasnt been fully cured, as "he" reappears in the driving seat. Otherwise if the murders actually do take place, there are so many anomalies. One example is where the girl is trying to escape from her uncle, she runs downstairs, and sees Kim Coates at the door, and takes fright and runs in the opposite direction... all the while her uncle is chasing her. This implies, all this is taking place in Dana's mind under the supervision of his therapist. That's my take.

You are left not knowing what is real and what is imagination. The main character had some for form of nervous breakdown but you are left wondering what actually happened. Who killed who or who did what. You cannot tell what is amemory and what is actual reality. Not a spectacular movie.

Neon lights was a film that struggled with its identity. As a viewer it felt like a modern take on Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, but at the same time there were many elements that made it feel like a take on Frankenstein's monster. Leaving me with the question of whether or not Clay's demons were actually created by his past trauma. No character in this film had any proper development especially Clay who we were meant to be afraid of, but fear of a character starts when they become unrecognizable to who they once were and at no point was Clay unrecognizable. The audience should never have expected that Clay was the killer, the early reveal destroyed the potential for suspense and in a film like this the most important element are suspenseful/thrilling sequences.

I'm only 40 min into this movie and it's just becoming background noise. Acting meh, some even annoying. So my main issue is up until 20 min into movie I thought the other girl was friend. But she was daughter of the couple??. Like actors look early to late 30. And y'all telling me that their daughter?. They only managed to make her look younger once. They just put glasses on 25 years old actress and pink clothing lol. Would i recommend? Not really Unless u need background noise.

The main character is clearly having a psychopathic break. I'm not sure if the Kim Coates character is even a real person or if it is some manifestation of the main guy's mind. Either way the plot is unsurprising, the Acting however was just fine. It's the story that needed work. This is one of those movies that you watch hoping it will get better, but it never does.

Neon Lights, directed with colorful flair by Rouzbeh Heydari, boldly attempts a Shyamalan-worthy little kick. Regrettably, what comes before that concluding zinger is a confusing mess - one that could have been avoided with a stronger script. And better acting. The mystery within tries to build - unsuccessfully. There is no suspense. There is no ticking-clock. Even the veiled threat of a killer on the loose is mostly ignored. Kim Coates plays the devil-in-your-ear with all the hammy force he can muster but such talents are wasted as Clay's mumbling grounds any potential conflict into dust. The finale offers answers but even that Big Reveal is mostly a cough of an aside. Heydari plays a visual tug-of-war between stressed-out reality and chaotic illusions but neither struggle is engaging. A mysterious man with a tux hides in the shadows but his threats are loudly impotent. This could have been a Sixth Sense-style debut. Instead, Neon Lights is ironically a dark slog of confusion, repetition, and poorly-directed, annoying characters.

It what was a "meh" movie at best. I won't give details or spoilers, but really this had little to no character development and the overall leaves wanting. The end is typical.

Bad acting Awful music choice The end easily could be guessed from the beginning (Lame story) ... waste of time. If someone recommended this to you and you are in relation with that person, just broke up and save yourself from future bad choices of movies.

I watched this I'm still not sure what to make of it. It's not as bad as some of the reviews make it out to be but certainly not the best film either. I like thrillers a lot but for some reason something was missing with this film. It certainly has an interesting premise but falls sort of flat? I think some the actors were miscast in their roles too, some scenes felt like actors reading from a script rather than actually being the roles they were in. Kim coates and his daughter were good in this, I liked their characters. I didn't buy that Clarissa was Blair's mom though that felt super unrealistic and really off to me. I don't fault the actors with the material they were given it seemed like they did the best with what they had. The story was the weakest part for me. I think sometimes people forget that yes good cinematography, production design, lighting, locations etc are important but not as important as a good story that is compelling and keeps the viewer entertained. It had good production value for sure but it seemed like the focus was too much on it looking good rather than realizing the audience can forgive certain things, and as someone who loves indie films I have seen films with less production value but way better stories that make up for it because a good story is what will be the most memorable to people not some fancy camera angle or cooling looking shot. I think people who make films forget that story is the most important element at the end of the day.