Starring: Ryan Gosling, Vithaya Pansringarm, Kristen Scott-Thomas
American brothers Julian (Gosling) and Billy (Tom Burke) live in Thailand, involved in the local kick-boxing circuit and the underworld. Billy's debauched tastes in sex get the better if him when he kills a sixteen-year-old prostitute (Aratchaporn Sataed) and is himself killed by the prostitute's father (Kovit Wattanakul) as a result. Now, Julian is left to face a powerful criminal kingpin (Pansringarm) who allowed Nilly's killing and who is in cahoots with a crooked police force.
In 2011, Drive made internationally renowned names of Danish director, Nicholas Winding Refn and his American star, Ryan Gosling. Now they're back together in another gritty crime thriller, moving from Drive's setting of Los Angeles getaway driving into the world of organised crime in Thailand. Despite the change in setting, Only God Forgives keeps with a lot of Drive's conventions. Ryan Gosling still plays the same stoic and largely silent and possibly psychopathic protagonist in Julian, although Kirsten Scott-Thomas steals the show as someone who could've been the mother from hell, if hell could've put up with her and the rather...intense...relationship that's she's implied to have with her sons. The film is also extremely stylised with much of the scenery set against the night and with strong use of black and red. Refn's fondness for stylisation does often overwhelm the production and with the frequent use of long scenes with no dialogue, often using slow motion, it certainly not too harsh to call Refn out on being pretentious. The film is also shockingly violent and gives a very downbeat perspective of life in suburban Thailand. However, the visuals are sumptuous and Refn's work, whilst over self-indulgent is at least technically accomplished and intriguing to look at. Fans of Drive might want to consider giving this a watch, but many people will either love or hate this film and could probably justify either opinion quite easily.
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