Only God Forgives (2013)

Only God Forgives: Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. With Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vithaya Pansringarm, Gordon Brown. Julian, a drug-smuggler thriving in Bangkok’s criminal underworld, sees his life get even more complicated when his mother compels him to find and kill whoever is responsible for his brother’s recent death.

“Danish auteur Nicolas Winding Refnu0026#39;s first Hollywood picture Drive is one of the best films of the millennium, hands down. His Thailand-set revenge saga feels like a natural extension of that masterpiece, albeit a very boring and pretentious one. Where Drive was slow-burning and enrapturing, OGF is slow and uninteresting; where Ryan Goslingu0026#39;s Driver was charismatic and compelling, his drug-dealing enigma here is dull and vacuous; Driveu0026#39;s violence was impactful and meaningful, the brutality in this is nasty and pointless. There are, however, two shining lights that save this from being completely unwatchable. The neon-lit cinematography is simply stunning and quite often disguises the senselessness of what is actually going on, whilst the ballsy performance from Kristen Scott Thomas as Goslingu0026#39;s reprehensible white-trash mother is a terrific display of her versatility and deserving of a much better movie. A missed opportunity that suggests Refn is a hit and miss prospect.”