Neon Lights Ending Explained

UlTiMaTe ChAnGe FoR LiFe

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Transcript

00:00Hi, welcome back to my channel.

00:02In this video, I will explain the ending of Neon Lights, so, let's begin.

00:06Neon Lights is a 2022 indie psychological thriller directed by Rauz Behadari.

00:11It's a film that explores taut family dynamics and childhood traumas.

00:15The movie builds suspense by keeping itself shrouded in mystery and ambiguity and does

00:19a good job of holding the audience's attention and curiosity.

00:23Much of the movie revolves around the plot of an off-site family gathering that starts

00:27as a tense reunion between three adopted brothers and soon descends into murder and

00:31madness.

00:32The narrative of the movie mirrors its protagonist in being unreliable and irregular by constantly

00:37flickering between different ideas and plotlines while trying to hold on to its nucleus in

00:42order to resemble some sense of normalcy and control.

00:45The ending of the movie leaves a lot of questions unanswered, here are some of them answered,

00:49just to let you know this video will contain spoilers.

00:52The story starts with the tech tycoon, Clay Amani losing control in an interview when

00:56faced with difficult questions about his and his company's future, which both seem

01:00to be steadily going downhill.

01:03After his meltdown, he attends a therapy session in order to work on his issues and his past.

01:08There is a constant encouragement provided by other characters for Clay to let go and

01:11move on, and now after his therapist, Layla's similar insistence Clay finally complies.

01:17He invites his family, James and Benny his brothers, Clarissa Benny's wife, and Blair

01:21their daughter, out to an off-site mansion.

01:24The beginning of this reunion is full of tension between Clay and his brothers with

01:27Benny accusing him of abandoning them and expressing his complete disdain and distrust

01:32for him.

01:33Throughout all this, the shadow of a man later revealed to be Denver Cain follows Clay around

01:37and haunts his every move.

01:39Clay remains in a constant battle with his psyche, often blaming himself for everything

01:43that goes wrong and though he wears a mask of stability around other people, it is when

01:47he is alone or in the sole presence of Denver Cain that he slowly but deeply starts to unravel.

01:52The narrative shifts between his breakdowns around his therapist, his vague future at

01:56a mental institution, and the assumed present timeline of him with his family.

02:01As Clay continues to lose his sanity due to the presence of his brothers and Denver, misfortunes

02:05start befalling his family.

02:07One after the other his family members are gruesomely murdered as the mystery around

02:10Clay and his motives grow bigger and bigger.

02:13Eventually, Denver Cain, the mysterious man from the shadows is revealed to be the one

02:18behind the murders and through the haphazard and frantic jumps.

02:21Within the three plotlines, Clay tries to save Clarissa and Blair from their doom.

02:25Who is Denver Cain?

02:27Denver Cain is initially introduced as a strange man who seemingly controls Clay by influencing

02:32his thoughts and decisions.

02:34He repeatedly manipulates Clay into believing he is an irreplaceable resident in Clay's

02:38life and that Clay will always end up needing his help.

02:41His character comes across as menacing from the start, almost acting as the perfect personification

02:46of Clay's insecurities and worst anxieties.

02:49Though the mystery of Denver Cain's identity persists for a time, he is eventually revealed

02:53to be Clay, James, and Benny's adoptive and abusive father.

02:57But the character of Denver Cain isn't actually the man in the flesh.

03:01In an interview, the writer of the film and the lead actor, Dana Abraham suggests that

03:05the characters of Layla and Denver act as the angel and the devil on Clay's shoulder.

03:10The angel versus devil on one's shoulder is a plot device often used to showcase the

03:14good and the bad in any situation to a character and acts as the dichotomy of good and evil

03:19inside of the same character's subconscious.

03:22The angel, in this case, Layla, guides Clay towards working through his trauma and finding

03:26peace and stability.

03:28Meanwhile, Denver, the devil, is almost a manifestation of Clay's very same trauma who

03:33leads him down a tragic maniacal path.

03:35Denver is used by the plot as a reflection of the dark and demented part of Clay.

03:40This other identity of Clay's is shaped by his childhood traumas, wherein though he is

03:43portrayed to be the favorite of his father he still suffers abuse and damage by his actions.

03:49Even as Clay escapes this abuse by leaving his family, he ends up developing a voice

03:53in his head, one that constantly rings with self-doubt and homicidal thoughts.

03:58The Denver Cane, we see in the movie, is the embodiment of that same voice inside Clay's

04:02head.

04:03Does Clay kill his family?

04:05After the family gets together, it's only a matter of time before the first murder happens.

04:10On their first night together at Clay's estate, James ends up becoming the first victim to

04:14a series of slasher-esque killings.

04:16Benny is the next to go, and by the time it gets to Clarissa, the plot finally divulges

04:21the face of the killer, Denver Cane.

04:23As Clay's insanity progresses, however, we realize that Denver Cane is an invention of

04:28Clay's trauma and that Clay himself is responsible for all the cold-blooded murders.

04:32Denver Cane again representing the homicidal part of Clay chases down Blair as an unbalanced

04:36and crazed Clay tries to put a stop to it.

04:39Ultimately, Clay's insanity wins out, and Blair too is killed.

04:43In the end, alone and with no one left to save Clay turns to the ghost of his father

04:47and his trauma and kills him as well.

04:50The end to the thrilling slasher plotline however is immediately followed by Clay's

04:53therapy session.

04:55He has worked through his past and his traumas, it's a breakthrough.

04:59It was all in his head, an allegory for the trauma he had suffered, at the hands of his

05:03family.

05:04In reuniting and eventually killing them in the estate that existed within his head, he

05:08has killed the trauma they had knowingly or unknowingly inflicted upon him.

05:12But still, the question remains, did he or did he not kill his family?

05:17The answer to that comes from a shot of a newspaper article shown toward the climax

05:20of the movie.

05:22It's a picture of his father alongside his brothers and Clarissa with a title that reads,

05:26Media Mogul Murders Family.

05:28This is Clay's past that is so often referenced in the first act of the movie.

05:33This is the trauma he has to overcome, the fact that his father murdered his family and

05:36he blames himself for it because he couldn't save them.

05:40What is the significance of the neon lights?

05:42Throughout the movie, neon hues and lighting is used.

05:46In one sense, they work as a stylistic choice that expands upon the cinematography of the

05:50movie, but thematically they play a much different role.

05:54In the story, each character is given a separate room that is lit up by a different neon color.

05:59Colors are often used as literary devices to convey emotions and concepts and by associating

06:03a specific color with every character, the movie attaches certain ideas to them.

06:08Pink, for Blair, represents an innocence that Clay relates to the young girl.

06:13At the same time, it also enforces a lack of self-reliance and worldview.

06:17James gets green, the color of envy and greed.

06:21Both attributes are showcased by the character in his time around Clay.

06:24He's envious of Clay's success and wants to benefit from it himself in some way or the

06:28other.

06:29Similarly, Benny's room is red because, in Clay's mind, he's a stand-in for anger.

06:35He is physically abusive and prone to lashing out, with his actions always backed by his

06:38violent anger.

06:40Lastly, purple, Clarissa's color, symbolizes a sense of trust and admiration.

06:45It is also a color closely linked to femininity, illustrating Clay's attraction to her.

06:50All these neon-lit backdrops assigned to the characters are directly determined by their

06:54meaning in Clay's life.

06:56The neon lights used in the film further the narrative of the story taking place inside

06:59Clay's head, where everything and everyone are meticulously placed in the respective

07:03boxes they occupy within his mind.

07:06Neon colors are usually used as a warning of danger, and their usage all throughout

07:10the movie enforces the suspicious-threatening nature of the story.

07:13They are also characteristically very intense colors.

07:17The reason these colors exist in the neon inside of Clay's mind is that due to his trauma

07:21and his issues, he feels everything too intensely.

07:24He's always on the verge of a mental collapse just barely holding himself together.

07:29All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.

07:33The quotes taken from Edgar Allan Poe's poem titled, A Dream Within A Dream, are used by

07:36the film as parting words to bestow upon the audience.

07:40The quote works as an epithet for the character of Clay who spends so much of the movie trapped

07:44inside his mind and his traumas.

07:46It encourages the audience to question the plot and the reliability of the events and

07:50exactly how real they actually are.

07:52In the final scene of the movie, when Clay is departing from his therapy session it is

07:56with a sense of satisfaction and closure.

07:59However, the movie ends with a shot of Denver Cain, the omen of Clay's traumas, literally

08:03in the driver's seat of Clay's life.

08:05The damage never truly goes away, Clay's life will forever be plagued by his childhood trauma.

08:11That's all for now folks.

08:12I would appreciate it if you could give the video a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel

08:16so you can see more content like this every day.

08:18Take care.

08:19Bye.

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