# Mandy (2018 film)

Mandy is a 2018 Belgium-American surrealist action horror film directed by Italian-Canadian filmmaker Panos Cosmatos, from a screenplay by Cosmatos and Aaron Stewart-Ahn, and based on a story by Cosmatos. Starring Nicolas Cage, Andrea Riseborough, Linus Roache, Ned Dennehy, Olwen Fouéré, Richard Brake, and Bill Duke, the film follows Red Miller (Cage), a lumberjack seeking vengeance against cult leader Jeremiah Sand (Roache), as well as his devout followers, for the murder of his girlfriend, Mandy Bloom (Riseborough).
Mandy premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2018, and was theatrically released in the United States on September 14, 2018. The film was a box office failure, grossing $1.7 million against its $6 million production budget. Despite this, it received critical acclaim, with particular praise for its visual style and originality, Cage's performance, Cosmatos' direction, and the action sequences.
At the 45th Saturn Awards, the film won for Best Independent Film, while Cage was nominated for Best Actor. Benjamin Loeb was nominated for Best Cinematography at the 34th Independent Spirit Awards. Mandy was one of the last films to be scored by composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, who died of drug-related complications seven months before the film's release, and the film is dedicated to his memory.

## Plot

In 1983, in the Pacific Northwest, recovering alcoholic war veteran lumberjack Red Miller lives with his girlfriend, artist and author Mandy Bloom, who had an abusive childhood. Mandy works as a gas station cashier by day and at night creates elaborate fantasy art, which Red greatly admires.
While walking to work, Mandy catches the attention of Jeremiah Sand, leader of the religious cult Children of the New Dawn. Sand orders his disciple Brother Swan to kidnap Mandy. Swan summons the Black Skulls, a cannibalistic, demonic biker gang that regularly consumes LSD.
After being offered a cult member as a sacrifice, the gang breaks into their home and subdues Mandy and Red. Cultists Mother Marlene and Sister Lucy drug Mandy before presenting her to Sand. The cult leader attempts to seduce Mandy with his psychedelic folk music, but she just laughs at Sand, infuriating him. In retaliation, Sand stabs the bound and gagged Red and burns Mandy alive before him. After Sand and his followers leave, Red frees himself, mourns Mandy's death, and, after consuming a bottle of vodka, wordlessly swears revenge.
The next morning, Red visits his friend Caruthers to retrieve his crossbow and bolts. Before Red leaves, Caruthers warns him of the Black Skulls; Red reinforces his determination by forging a battle axe. He shoots a biker with his crossbow and runs him down, but the biker crashes his car and Red is captured in the process. At their hideout, Red breaks free from his restraints and kills the rest of the bikers. As he investigates their hideout, he ingests some of their drugs, causing him to instantly and severely hallucinate.
Following the images in his visions, Red finds The Chemist, the person who made the Black Skulls' LSD. The Chemist tells Red where to find the cult. At their makeshift wooden church in a quarry, Red kills the cult members one by one in increasingly brutal fashions. In the tunnels beneath the church, Red finds Mother Marlene and decapitates her. He then confronts Sand, taunting him by throwing Marlene's severed head at him before crushing his skull. He sets Sand's body and the church on fire before driving away. As Red drives, he hallucinates Mandy smiling in the passenger seat of his car, while the landscape behind him now appears fantastical and otherworldly.

## Cast

* Nicolas Cage as Red Miller, a lumberjack whose girlfriend is targeted by a cult.
* Andrea Riseborough as Mandy Bloom, Red's girlfriend.
* Linus Roache as Jeremiah Sand, an egoistic cult leader who becomes obsessed with Mandy and kidnaps her.
* Bill Duke as Caruthers
* Richard Brake as The Chemist
* Ned Dennehy as Brother Swan
* Olwen Fouéré as Mother Marlene
* Hayley Saywell as Sis
* Line Pillet as Sister Lucy
* Clément Baronnet as Brother Klopek
* Alexis Julemont as Brother Hanker
* Stephan Fraser as Brother Lewis
* Ivailo Dimitrov as Skratch
* Kalin Kerin as Scabs
* Tamás Hagyuó as Fuck Pig
* Paul Painter as Cheddar Goblin

## Production

On June 7, 2017, Nicolas Cage was announced as the star of the film. Production used the Arri Alexa camera, coupled with the Panavision anamorphic format, to achieve the film's old-school atmosphere.
Legion M, an entertainment studio that allows fans to invest in and be part of the creation of films, was a production partner for Mandy and hosted a panel discussion featuring director Panos Cosmatos and others at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018. Cage made a surprise appearance at the event.
The weapon forged by Red was based on the “F” from the logo for extreme metal band Celtic Frost.
The song "Starless" by the English progressive rock band King Crimson plays over the opening credits. It is taken from their 1974 album Red, which is also the name of Cage's character.

## Release

The film premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival on January 19. It began a limited cinematic release on September 13, 2018, playing at a maximum of 250 theatres, and was released on VOD on September 14.

## Reception
### Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 90% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 248 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Mandy's gonzo violence is fueled by a gripping performance by Nicolas Cage—and anchored with palpable emotion conveyed between his volcanic outbursts." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 83 out of 100 based on review from 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Reviewing the film after its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com praised it, writing that "for all of the endless feral performances that Cage has given, in movies good, bad and forgettable, Cosmatos’ style-driven, ‘80s-tastic passion for weird worlds and characters takes full advantage of Cage’s greatness, and then some."
In a five-star review for Dirty Movies, Stephen Lee Naish called the film "a blood soaked revenge caper," praising Cosmatos for a "masterful approach" that "aligns him with Kubrick and Lynch in delivering perfectly believable and fully realized worlds and characters that operate within their own laws of physics." Meanwhile, film critic Christopher Stewardson said the film "is sure to become a cult favourite all of its own." In December 2018, Esquire named Mandy the top film in its 25 Best Movies of 2018 So Far.

### Accolades

| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipients | Result |
| Austin Film Critics Association Awards | January 7, 2019 | Best Score | Jóhann Jóhannsson | Won |
| Austin Film Critics Association Awards | January 7, 2019 | Best Stunts | Mandy | Nominated |
| Chicago Film Critics Association Awards | December 8, 2018 | Best Original Score | Jóhann Jóhannsson | Nominated |
| Detroit Film Critics Society Awards | December 3, 2018 | Best Use of Music | Jóhann Jóhannsson | Nominated |
| Dublin Film Critics' Circle Awards | December 20, 2018 | Best Cinematography | Benjamin Loeb | 5th place |
| Dublin Film Critics' Circle Awards | December 20, 2018 | Best Film | Mandy | 10th place |
| Fangoria Chainsaw Awards | February 25, 2019 | Best Actor | Nicolas Cage | Won |
| Fangoria Chainsaw Awards | February 25, 2019 | Best Director | Panos Cosmatos | Nominated |
| Fangoria Chainsaw Awards | February 25, 2019 | Best Limited Release | Mandy | Won |
| Fangoria Chainsaw Awards | February 25, 2019 | Best Makeup FX | Oriane de Neve | Nominated |
| Fangoria Chainsaw Awards | February 25, 2019 | Best Score | Jóhann Jóhannsson | Won |
| Fangoria Chainsaw Awards | February 25, 2019 | Best Supporting Actor | Linus Roache | Nominated |
| Hollywood Music in Media Awards | November 14, 2018 | Best Original Score — Independent Film | Jóhann Jóhannsson | Nominated |
| Houston Film Critics Society Awards | January 3, 2019 | Best Poster | Mandy | Nominated |
| Independent Spirit Awards | February 23, 2019 | Best Cinematography | Benjamin Loeb | Nominated |
| Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival | July 16, 2018 | Narcisse Award for Best Feature Film | Mandy | Nominated |
| Saturn Awards | September 13, 2019 | Best Actor | Nicolas Cage | Nominated |
| Saturn Awards | September 13, 2019 | Best Independent Film | Mandy | Won |
| Seattle Film Critics Society Awards | December 17, 2018 | Best Original Score | Jóhann Jóhannsson | Won |
| Sitges Film Festival | October 15, 2018 | Best Director | Panos Cosmatos | Won |
* ↑ Tied with The Rider