Only God Forgives
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Julian, who runs a Thai boxing club as a front organization for his family's drug smuggling operation, is forced by his mother Crystal to find and kill the individual responsible for his brother's recent death.
What critics thought
DivisiveFew films at Cannes have split a room as sharply as this one, earning simultaneous boos and a standing ovation from the same press screening. Refn's neon-soaked Bangkok thriller is visually immaculate and almost defiantly empty of plot and character, which is either a bold formal provocation or a hollow exercise in style depending on who you ask — and critics asked loudly in both directions.
“The film's characters are non-people; the things they say to each other are non-conversations, the events they enact are non-drama”
Robbie Collin·The Daily Telegraph
“Somewhere in here is a story that Refn can hardly be bothered to tell... I feel the ghosts of other movies—his influences, his inspirations—crowding in on his own work, suffocating him, and somehow leaving less of him on screen.”
John Patterson·The Guardian
Genres
Drama, Thriller, Crime
Cast & Crew
Nicolas Winding RefnDirector
Ryan GoslingJulian
Kristin Scott ThomasCrystal
Vithaya PansringarmChang
Rhatha PhongamMai
Gordon BrownGordon
Tom BurkeBilly
Byron GibsonByron
Sahajak BoonthanakitKim
Charlie RuedpokanonDaeng
Danai ThiengdhamWaiter / Li Po
Cliff MartinezComposer
Larry SmithCinematographyOnly God Forgives
Julian, who runs a Thai boxing club as a front organization for his family's drug smuggling operation, is forced by his mother Crystal to find and kill the individual responsible for his brother's recent death.
What critics thought
DivisiveFew films at Cannes have split a room as sharply as this one, earning simultaneous boos and a standing ovation from the same press screening. Refn's neon-soaked Bangkok thriller is visually immaculate and almost defiantly empty of plot and character, which is either a bold formal provocation or a hollow exercise in style depending on who you ask — and critics asked loudly in both directions.
“The film's characters are non-people; the things they say to each other are non-conversations, the events they enact are non-drama”
Robbie Collin·The Daily Telegraph
“Somewhere in here is a story that Refn can hardly be bothered to tell... I feel the ghosts of other movies—his influences, his inspirations—crowding in on his own work, suffocating him, and somehow leaving less of him on screen.”
John Patterson·The Guardian
Genres
Drama, Thriller, Crime
Cast & Crew
Nicolas Winding RefnDirectorRyan GoslingJulianKristin Scott ThomasCrystalVithaya PansringarmChangRhatha PhongamMaiGordon BrownGordonTom BurkeBillyByron GibsonByronSahajak BoonthanakitKimCharlie RuedpokanonDaengDanai ThiengdhamWaiter / Li PoCliff MartinezComposerLarry SmithCinematographyStream
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