Review of Only God Forgives (2013) by Kieran T — 18 Jan 2015

After watching the excellent thriller Drive (also with Ryan Gosling) this was a massive disappointment. Whilst Drive had a great plot, ultra cool soundtrack and a variety of great supporting characters to Ryan Gosling's quiet but strong, coolheaded protagonist this movie feels devoid of such characters.

The notably exception being Kirstin Scott Thomas as Gosling's despotic, psychotic mother out for vengeance. Stylistically this movie looks beautiful but it just feels empty of character development and plot and any real sense of pacing or tension.

Also whilst you empathise with the situation Ryan Gosling finds himself in Drive it is impossible to feel anything for his character or indeed any character in Only God Forgives. Perhaps a comparison with Drive is unfair as it is obviously a completely different type of movie and should be viewed on its own merits - stylish, cryptic, symbolic, metaphorical.

However, I think a lot of people probably went to see it after seeing Drive especially with the same lead actor so comparisons are almost inevitable.