Today’s quick review: Only God Forgives. Julian (Ryan Gosling) is an American living in Bangkok, where he deals drugs, runs a fight club, and reaps the rewards of the Thai nightlife. When his brother Billy (Tom Burke) is murdered, Julian sets out to find the men responsible. But the situation is more complicated than it first seemed, and Julian ends up on a collision course with Chang (Vithaya Pansringarm), a brutal cop who was involved in the murder.
Only God Forgives is a gritty, stylized crime drama that features striking cinematography, deliberate pacing, and a pervasive sense of detachment. The story is a dark tale of revenge and senseless violence told in an abstract style. However, the film’s thin plot, unlikable characters, and indirect presentation cause its artistry to go to waste. The result is a movie that’s briefly fascinating and occasionally beautiful but ultimately unrewarding.
Only God Forgives is hard to get a bead on. The film is peppered with stylistic devices that obfuscate the story. Brief dream sequences are impossible to distinguish from reality, portions of the story are told nonlinearly, and the film has a habit of ending scenes before they are fully resolved. Coupled with a laconic cast and a reluctance to share key facts, these attributes make watching Only God Forgives into something of a guessing game.
These problems are compounded by the characters. Julian makes for a strange protagonist, too quiet to get to know directly and too passive to characterize through his actions. Flashes of his character come through at key moments, but never enough to reconcile his moral streak with his lifestyle. His opposite, Chang, is a police officer who dispenses justice with a brutal hand, caught somewhere between violent hero and moral villain.
The movie’s main redeeming feature is its cinematography. The streets of Bangkok lend Only God Forgives a vivid color palette of reds and blues. The camera drinks in the scenery along with the characters’ slow, methodical actions. The stylized storytelling also has its merits, although the payoff tends not to be worth the effort of deciphering them. Only God Forgives makes for a visually interesting watch, but the story can’t quite back it up.
Try Only God Forgives when you’re in the mood for something short, dark, and stylized. The bleak tone and confusing presentation will be enough to turn off most viewers, but those willing to brave both will find the glimmer of something special. However, Only God Forgives does not offer the complete package, and even viewers who are intrigued by its style would likely be better off with another film in the same vein.
For a more successful violent crime drama with the same lead actor and director, check out Drive. For a more artful, gut-wrenching tale of violence and revenge, try Oldboy or No Country For Old Men. For an experimental crime drama that dives more deeply into its abstract elements, check out Revolver.
5.7 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.5 for skillful presentation that misses the mark and an empty story.