Review of Only God Forgives (2013) by Andy D — 04 Dec 2013

What a tough movie to review! I started watching it, and thought "what the hell is this?" and yet by the end was completely enthralled by it. I wasn't sure I'd understood it, so I read up about it and found it being resoundingly hated and praised in equal measure online.

One thing is for certain, it is a film that isn't made for entertainment purposes in any way. It is purely art, commentary, narrative on masculinity, riddled with symbolism, and I'm not even clear yet how much of it is actually meant to be 'real', as a lot of it seems to be going on inside the main character, Julian's (Ryan Gosling) head.

As it's from the same team who did Drive, you could be forgiven for expecting more of the same, but it TOTALLY isn't.

Simply put - Drive is Winding Refn directing a Ryan Gosling film. Only God Forgives is Ryan Gosling featuring in a Winding Refn film, they are totally different creatures.

This film is brutal, harsh, uncompromising. The characters are unlikeable, but bad things happen to bad people. It is gorgeously shot, Bangkok coming across in an eerie light with the artsy cinematography, and Cliff Martinez again does the music, and again hits the spot, this time I couldn't help but imagine I was being circled by sharks by some of the music! Random!

The bad guy in this - the Cop - is incredible. Is he real? Is he an angel of vengeance? Is he supernatural? Multiple viewings may help...or may not!

All in all, this won't be popular. It is not a film to be enjoyed, but it would be fascinating to study, and dissect. More like Valhalla Rising than Drive.