FILMGAZM PRODUCTIONS
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • ACTION
    • BIOPIC
    • COMEDY
    • CRIME
    • DRAMA
    • FAMILY
    • FANTASY
    • HORROR
    • MUSICAL
    • SCI-FI
    • SPORT
    • WAR
    • WESTERN
  • PODCASTS
    • THE FILMGAZM PODCAST
    • OSCAR SUNDAY
    • BEYOND THE BAD
    • FAKE TRUE STORIES
    • THE SNEAK PREVIEW
  • Articles
  • Hall of 10's
    • CONNOR'S HALL
    • CALEB'S HALL
    • AUSTIN'S HALL
    • JOSH'S HALL
  • Trailers
  • Meet the Team
  • In Memoriam
  • Ratings
Picture
A criminal living in Bangkok must decide whether or not to pursue
​revenge on the retired cop responsible for his brother's death.
CRIME/DRAMA

Only God Forgives (2013)

Written and Directed by Nicholas Winding Refn

Starring Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vithaya Pansringarm

Connor Eyzaguirre
April 10, 2020
4/10
Only God Forgives is all style, no substance. It's one of the most infuriatingly bad movies I've ever sat through, mostly because I expected so much more from it. I'm a big fan of Refn and Gosling's previous movie, Drive, and this is very much not that. Refn sacrifices character development and narrative structure to craft what is essentially a self-indulgent piece of hot garbage. We get it, you're a complex snowflake of a filmmaker.

Gosling plays Julian, a nonspecific criminal with a psychotic, pedophile brother who gets murdered, because of course he does. Julian's mother (Thomas) comes to town to convince her son to take revenge. No background info is ever told on these people, nor do we have any reason to root for them. Gosling delivers a weak, limited performance. Kristin Scott Thomas goes too far, immediately being unlikable from the first moment we meet her. None of the other characters pop. Even the villain is an unnecessary enigma. Frankly, anybody else could've done better just by trying a little hard in this department.

I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. I hated this movie. Only God Forgives tells no story, and it never tries to either. If you can enjoy a movie that exists solely to show off a neon, Thai landscape with a synth music background, then have at it. But if you're like me, and you look for a good story and interesting characters, take my advice and leave this one on the shelf.

Mission Statement

Filmgazm is made by movie lovers for movie lovers. We believe in the magic of film and we aim celebrate films of all genres and throughout cinema history, regardless of who's behind the camera or who financed it. We at Filmgazm believe that every film deserves to be reviewed on its own merits and that's what we are here to do. Enjoy the show!
DISCLAIMER - Filmgazm does not own nor do we pretend to own any posters, artwork, or trailers on this site. We mean only to review
​and discuss movies. All trademarks are the property of the respective trademark owners.
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • ACTION
    • BIOPIC
    • COMEDY
    • CRIME
    • DRAMA
    • FAMILY
    • FANTASY
    • HORROR
    • MUSICAL
    • SCI-FI
    • SPORT
    • WAR
    • WESTERN
  • PODCASTS
    • THE FILMGAZM PODCAST
    • OSCAR SUNDAY
    • BEYOND THE BAD
    • FAKE TRUE STORIES
    • THE SNEAK PREVIEW
  • Articles
  • Hall of 10's
    • CONNOR'S HALL
    • CALEB'S HALL
    • AUSTIN'S HALL
    • JOSH'S HALL
  • Trailers
  • Meet the Team
  • In Memoriam
  • Ratings