Jesse: You know what my mother used to call me? Dangerous. "You're a dangerous girl". She was right. I am dangerous.
Roberta Hoffmann: I see twenty or thirty girls come in here everyday. From small towns, with big dreams. Some girls crack under the pressure. You... You're going to be great.
Roberto Sarno: Beauty isn't everything. It's the only thing.
Ruby: She has that... thing.
Jesse: Are we having a party or something?
Roberto Sarno: [referring to Jesse] Nothing fake, nothing false. A diamond in a sea of glass.
Jesse: I can't sing, I can't dance, I can't write... no real talent. But I'm pretty, and I can make money off pretty.
Jesse: I don't want to be like them. They want to be like me.
Gigi: Sweetie, plastics is just good grooming. Imagine going a year without brushing your teeth.
Gigi: He calls me the bionic woman.

Jesse: Is that a compliment?
Sarah: What's it feel like?

Jesse: What do you mean?

Sarah: To walk into a room, and it's like in the middle of winter. You're the sun.

Jesse: It's everything.
Waitress: Would you like to hear the specials?

Gigi: Sure!

Sarah: Ugh, you're not going to eat it...

Gigi: But they work so hard to memorize them.
Jesse: [standing on the diving-board] I know what I Iook like. And what's wrong with that anyway? Women would kill to look like this. They carve and stuff, and inject themselves. They starve to death, hoping, praying that one day they'll look like a second-rate version of me.
Jesse: When I was a kid, I would sneak out to the roof at night; I thought the moon looked like a big round eye. And I would look up and I'd say, "Do you see me?". Ya know, I'd stay out there for hours. Sometimes I'd fall asleep, just dreaming.

Dean: About what?

Jesse: What I would be.

Dean: What was that?

Jesse: I could never figure it out.
Sarah: People see you, they notice. Do you know how lucky you are? I'm a ghost.
Sarah: All she really wants to know is, who are you fucking?

Jesse: Sorry?
Jesse: Something's in my room!

Hank: What do you mean something's in your room?

Jesse: I saw something in my room!

Hank: Are you high?
Ruby: Am I staring?

Jesse: A little.

Ruby: Sorry... you just have such beautiful skin. I'm Ruby, by the way. Do you have a name or you want me to guess?

Jesse: Jesse.

Ruby: Jesse. And you just got to LA, Jesse?

Jesse: How'd you know?

Ruby: You've got that look. Oh, don't worry, honey, that whole deer in the headlights thing is exactly what they want.
Sarah: Who wants sour milk when you can get fresh meat?
Jesse: I know what I look like. Women would kill to look like this.
Roberto Sarno: True beauty is the highest currency we have. Without it, she would be nothing.

Dean: I think you're wrong.

Roberto Sarno: Excuse me?

Dean: I said, I think you're wrong.

Roberto Sarno: So are you gonna tell me that it's what's inside that counts?

Dean: Yeah, that's exactly what I think.

Roberto Sarno: Well I think, that if she wasn't beautiful... you wouldn't have even stopped to look.
Roberto Sarno: Dean, we're having a little debate over here. We need your expertise.

Dean: Okay.

Roberto Sarno: You know Gigi, right?

Dean: Well - I mean, we just met.

Roberto Sarno: [to Gigi:] Will you stand up so that he can take a look at you? Go on, stand up.

[Gigi stands up]

Roberto Sarno: Well...

Dean: Well, what?

Roberto Sarno: What do you think? You think she's beautiful?

Dean: I don't know - I mean, yeah, I guess she's fine.

Roberto Sarno: Yes, yes, that's exactly the word I was looking for. She's fine! Right?

[Roberto touches Gigi's right arm]

Roberto Sarno: You can sit down now, thanks. Thank you, Dean.
Gigi: [while looking at herself and applying lipstick in a bathroom mirror in a club] God, I love this color on me.

Ruby: Red rum.

Gigi: What?

Ruby: That's what it's called. They say women are more likely to buy a lipstick if it's named after food or sex. Just think about it. Black honey, plum passion, peachy keen.

Gigi: [Sucking on her finger and looking at herself in the mirror] Pink pussy.
Gigi: Jesse? What are you doing here?

Jesse: They told me to wait.

Gigi: For what?

Jesse: For makeup.

Gigi: You're in the show?

Jesse: [smirks] Yeah.

Gigi: This show?

Jesse: ...yes.

Gigi: [pauses in disbelief] That's my chair.
Gigi: Well, you certainly move fast.

Jesse: What do you mean?

Gigi: You must be fucking him. Sarno doesn't let just anyone walk his collection.

Jesse: [scoffs] I don't think I'm his type...

Gigi: Why not? You're very masculine.
Gigi: You wanna know what I had done, don't you?

[Jesse stares intently]

Gigi: Well I thought I'd get more work if I went down a cup size. So I'd look like a hanger, ya know? But then my surgeon, Dr. Andrew, he pointed out a lot of other problems with my body. So I had them: shave my jaw, I had a slight eyebrow lift, new nose, cheeks, inner and outer lipo... oh, and they pinned my ears.

Jesse: Why?

Gigi: So I could wear a ponytail?
Jesse: Didn't it hurt?

Gigi: Anything worth having hurts a little. Besides, nobody likes the way they look.

Jesse: I do.

[Gigi scoffs with disgust]
Jesse: [after the shoot] You're still here?

Ruby: How did it go?

Jesse: It went good. It was great actually.

Ruby: Did he say anything?

Jesse: My agency said if the pictures turned out good, he might consider them for an editorial. Do you think he would?

Ruby: [shakes her head] I think he makes a lot of promises to young girls.

[nods]

Jesse: [looks down, then up again] I should go, before my meter runs out.

Ruby: I don't think you should be alone with him.

[shakes her head]

Jesse: [shakes her head] He seemed fine to me.

Ruby: [smiling] That's not what I'm saying, Jesse.

Jesse: [looks down, then up again] I'm not as helpless as I look.
Ruby: Hey, you wanna go somewhere?

Jesse: Where?

Ruby: A party.

Jesse: What kind of party?

Ruby: [beaming smile] The fun kind.

The Neon Demon Quotes

Extended Reading

The Neon Demon short comments

Kolby 2022-04-23 07:02:27

Comet Beauty was eaten as soon as it took off. The extreme of consumerism is the complete consumption of the flesh. Photography and art are great, editing is mediocre. Neon Demon = Fame. There was no normal lighting in the opening 15 minutes, and 80% of the scenes in the whole film were not properly lit. The only normal thing was in the morning of the motel.
Eveline 2021-12-19 08:01:04

Best movie of the year. The only regret is that Refn is still not crazy enough to play.