Nicholas Winding Refn Q&A: The Neon Demon, Curzon Soho

Now, this will be interesting. Curzon Soho presents a Q&A with the director behind some of the most subversively stylish films of the 2010s. Nicholas Winding Refn comes fresh from Cannes, where his latest offering, The Neon Demon has suffered notorious publicity over walkouts from his screening, due to scenes of cannibalism and necrophilia.

How did he get away with that? Because, if the trailer is anything to go by, this is the most stylish and slick presentation of cannibalism and necrophilia seen on screen.

The Neon Demon is a surreal take on modelling in LA (also the setting for Drive), where beautiful, jealous girls seek to destroy each other.

Starring ingénue Elle Fanning as doe-eyed model in a model-eat-model world, the trailer scores points for sinister beauty. It could be one long Lady Gaga music video, one long Alexander McQueen catwalk, or the next Black Swan.

After the preview comes the Q&A, and a glimpse inside the mind of 45-year-old Danish director Nicholas Winding Refn should prove dangerous and fascinating, after all, he is the mind behind the violent emotional destruction of Drive and vengeance in Only God Forgives.

Soundbites from Cannes do not disappoint: “Obviously I could live out my perverse dream of being a sixteen-year-old girl, which I think every man has inside of him.” An interesting thought. It will be fascinating to see what else he has to say.