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Only God Forgives
Ryan Gosling takes on Bangkok’s criminal underworld in this kaleidoscopic revenge fantasy from cult director Nicolas Winding Refn.
Crime 2013 90 mins
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Overview
Cult favourite Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive, Bronson) writes and directs this moody revenge saga, starring Ryan Gosling as Julian, a jaded drug-runner desperate to leave behind Bangkok’s seedy criminal underworld. But his crazed kingpin mother (Kristin Scott-Thomas) has different ideas, especially after the murder of his brother. Taking matters into his own hands, Julian’s quest to find the killers ultimately leads to a bloody reckoning with an evil ex-cop dubbed The Angel of Vengeance.
Provocatively presented, with equal parts bite and grace, Only God Forgives is both dreamlike in its hallucinatory imagery and a neon-drenched nightmare dripping of blood. Both a nod to Alejandro Jodorowsky (to whom Refn dedicates the film) and a warped vision of its own, Only God Forgives is a violent crime drama that is as cerebral as it is brutally physical.
Contains strong bloody violenceAccessibility
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