Lauren Howe in ‘Neon Lights’ spotlights dark side of healthcare

Lauren Howe’s performance as a twisted nurse in film Neon Lights where she mocks a vegetative state patient leaves you wondering how often it happens. The dark side of healthcare after family and friends leave the room.

This review contains spoilers for film, Neon Lights.

Lauren Howe’s nurse character is jaded, cynical, and brimming with bitterness at having to wash protagonist Clay’s nether regions day after day. Howe wonders how a rich & brilliant tech prodigy can be a “prisoner of his own mind”… While she’s stuck cleaning after the elitist shedding a mental breakdown.

After chastising a catatonic, non-responsive Clay in a bath tub, the nurse decides to take matters into her own hands and rid everyone involved of the burden.

Dana Abraham as Clay Amani in the horror/thriller NEON LIGHTS, a Momentum Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Momentum Pictures.

In the height of vulnerability, the nurse places Clay underwater in the bath tub after telling him openly, “accidents happen all the time” and that ‘no one would know’. It’s a brutal moment and feels weird to watch, like being a digital bystander.

The way Lauren Howe delivers the scene with a Crest commercial level smile, “What’s the matter? You don’t like me washing your b***s every day?” dances the line between sinister and profession joking.

It’s just gray area enough where you’re not sure of the nurse’s intentions at first and surprised when she actually goes through with putting Clay under bathtub water, even temporarily.

Most of all, it’s a gateway to the question of how often abuses of this sort occur in health care? A crime without witnesses or cameras, where the individual is beholden to the heart of a caretaker stretched thin and underpaid.

Nevertheless, it’s the most memorable scene in all of Neon Lights, whether imagined or not.

– Film Note: Lauren Howe also plays TV journalist/interviewer Anna Reid in Neon Lights opening and is a scene stealer there as well. Trying to balance the line between compassion to an obviously mentally struggling tech CEO and doing her job as a reporter.

About Neon Lights

(L-R) Brit MacRae as Clarissa, Dana Abraham as Clay Amani and Erika Swayze as Blair in the horror/thriller NEON LIGHTS, a Momentum Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Momentum Pictures.

Neon Lights is out now on Digital and On-demand. Alongside Lauren Howe (“Reacher”) are stars Dana Abraham (Prisoner of Fear), Kim Coates (“Sons of Anarchy”), Brit MacRae (“The Eden Theory”), Erika Swayze (“Workin’ Moms”), Stephen Tracey (“Good Sam”), Rene Escobar, Jr. (“Air Crash Investigation”), and Brenna Coates (“Coroner”). The film is Directed by Rouzbeh Heydari.

SYNOPSIS: “Thirty-year-old tech tycoon, Clay Amani (Dana
Abraham), is on the verge of a hostile takeover of Tempest Tech, all while he attempts to overcome mental health disorders and childhood traumas.”

Neon Lights Film Trailer

More Film Coverage on The Natural Aristocrat

Be sure to read:

– Fantasia 2022: ‘Special Delivery’ Review – Car Chase Heaven

– No Escape film review: Trading our lives for ‘Likes’ online

Visit the Film section for the latest news, reviews, and exclusive interviews.