I bave never seen anything this slow, this boring in my entire life. I felt I was watching the film Drive with the same lights and the same shots. Ryan is basically silent the whole goddamn movie with his a mask face. What is worse than this.

I've seen two movies from this guy. The other was the 'I'm going to beat you over the head with my metaphors' exercise in overindulgence called 'The Neon Demon' and this thing. I want you to understand I'm a major supporter of 'auteur' cinema. I love the Cohen bros, David Lynch (sometimes) and worship Stanley Kubrick. I really wanted to like Nicholas Refn but I find myself despising him. When I was in college one of my teachers used to say, 'Leave the last 15 brush strokes off of your paintings, It allows the viewer to fill them in'. Well, Mr. Refn not only puts in the last 15 strokes, he adds about 150 more. It makes for a film that you can look at but you have no invitation to participate in. You can almost hear him shouting instructions to the actors for how they should walk. see him posing them just perfectly for the camera and giving them EXACT line readings. Yes, there are some beautiful scenes in the movie and yes the art direction and cinematography are great but the whole exercise draws so much attention to itself that you can't involve yourself in what's going on. You can only look at it. I usually give a movie 10 to 15 minutes to draw me in. I've now watched two complete movies by Refn AND NOT BEEN DRAWN IN FOR A SECOND. He may one day turn into a good director if he lightens his touch. He might even become a great one but I can't see it. If you can sit through editing either of these two films and not see they are stillborn you've got no artistic eye and probably no creative soul. I'm not falling for it, again. Last movie of his for me. There no way to critique the acting because the actors aren't allowed to do anything. He may as well have put on a puppet show. And the writing gets buried under 'THE STYLE' so, you really can't evaluate that either. Even if you like art house movies, ( I do) I can't recommend this. It is totally lifeless and ultimately unenjoyable.

When someone reminds you Wong Kar wai, Kubrick, Melville, Noé, Lynch, Cronenberg and a thousand other mannerist masters in a single film, just shut up, revisite your classics by reading books on the History of cinema, the directing, the symbolism of the greatest tragedies and revalue the masterpiece of Refn.

In Thailand, a drug trafficker's icy mother sends him on a mission to avenge his older brother death.Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives feels more like his Valhalla Rising (2009) rather than the more conventional and mainstream Drive (2011). The music is mesmerising, stirring the uneasiness of The Shinning (1980). It's atmospheric, stylish, quiet and yet ultra-violent, with the beats of an opera. It echoes elements of Diva (1981), Collateral (2004), Subway (1985) and David Lynch's dream-like quality to name a few. Ryan Gosling plays Julian Thompson, an American criminal who lives in Bangkok. Gosling smolders (with limited dialogue which appears to have become his trademark staple) Julian speaks less than 20 lines throughout the film. Kristin Scott Thomas shines as Crystal Thompson, Julian's mother, a merciless and terrifying mafia godmother, probably her most memorable role. The star though is Vithaya Pansringarm as the imposing Lt. Chang/The Angel of Vengeance.Refn remains visually stylish thoughout with natural location shoot, he adds enough subtle narrative smarts and horrifying underworld characters to ground its beautifully filmed depravity.The film's characters are non-people; reminiscent of Revolver (2005) the things they say to each other are non-conversations, the events of neon-drenched nightmare are like some piece of French cinema which purposely plays differently to mainstream good taste. It's slow, edgy and gripping as the extreme violence basic plot plays out.Only God Forgives has some quirky casting and interesting visuals on the background of the seediest sides of Bangkok. If you like artsy, its dedicated to director Alejandro Jodorowsky which should give you an idea what to expect then this is for you.