The next design in our Occult collection is the incomparable Panos Cosmatos film Mandy.
We are supremely excited that our first officially licensed release is Mandy. It has been a great experience putting this collection together and we hope that you love what we came up with. Now, why do we love this movie so much?
There are two worlds you can live in: the world before Mandy (BM) and the world after Mandy (AM). This movie feels like a view into another reality, a darker and somehow more vibrant dimension than our own. We were completely blown away by everything about Mandy: Nic Cage, the world building, the color palette, the costuming, the set design, and the battles.
Mandy's orbit focuses on Red played by Nicholas Cage and Mandy played by Andrea Riseborough. This is by far our favorite Nic Cage performance, he was born to play Red. His larger than life emotions and reactions fit perfectly in this alternate dimension of pain and trauma. His ability to explode off the screen leaves such an impression that you can't help but join him on his quest for revenge.
There really isn't much dialogue throughout but the imagery, action, and symbolism tell a deep and winding story filled with lore and character development. Red and Mandy are cosmically bound by love and their relationship forecasts a landscape of balance and contentment. Jeremiah Sand played by Linus Roache, is a failed musician disillusioned by his own grandeur that has gravitated an orbit of cult followers committed to satisfying his every demand. Jeremiah is taken by a fortuitous glance of Mandy and he must have her, thus catapulting the movie into the revenge horror that ensues.
The imagery of Mandy walks the corridors of psychedelia, Heavy Metal inspired dream sequences, and nightmare hellscapes. Psychedelics play an interesting role throughout the movie. The hellish gang of murder biker demons, the Black Skulls, depend on a supply of LSD-esque drugs supplied by Jeremiah and he uses them as his personal mercenaries to abduct Mandy and brutalize Red.
The entire movie feels like a bad trip or a Jungian Demon Downward Spiral.
This video analysis by Novum is fascinating and explains this concept. We highly recommend checking it out!
The color palette and lighting: magentas, pinks, purples and greens place you in a nightmare you aren't entirely upset at having.
As the movie unfolds Red embarks on a murderous revenge rampage after he witnesses Mandy's death at the hands of Jeremiah's cult. The battles that ensue are amazingly memorable from a chainsaw melee to a flaming car backdrop-axe combat-duel. Brutal violence and revenge drive Red to the brink of insanity and one of his final lines in the movie, "The psychotic drowns where the mystic swims. You are drowning. I am swimming." Leaves you wondering as the final sequence rolls has his quest brought him to enlightenment or unravelled him completely? Are the two that different?
In this design we wanted to showcase the insurmountable odds Red faces: an evil cult entangled with a demonic biker gang. He stands smaller than the other figures in the design flanked on all sides by his enemies while the subject of desire and revenge, Mandy, looms over covered by the phases of Jupiter, her favorite planet.
We would love to sit down with Panos Cosmatos and discuss all the symbolism and storytelling throughout his film. Mandy has all the markings of a cult classic and we are so thankful it was ever made.
