Having watched 'My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn', I decided to give 2013's 'Only God Forgives' a chance to impress having managed to get a closer look into the film's production and general meaning.
'Only God Forgives' is based on Refn's own feelings towards God, a higher power, his own war that's destined to be lost, but still fought. It's an interesting concept that takes a protagonist and shows us their own losing battle against that higher force, but unfortunately, the film can feel a bit confusing and lost.
The film takes on a degree of realism that separates it a bit too much from the message it's trying to convey: we have a narrative that follows a drug smuggler in Bangkok, tied up in a little cartel family managed by a psychotic mother. A son of hers rapes and murders an underage girl; the girl's father kills him for revenge.
The other son, tasked by his mother, is told to avenge his brother, but it's not really something he agrees on. In his eyes, his brother deserved what happened to him as a result of his own sick actions. After the family issues out a hit on a corrupt police officer that's now searching for them, there's a bit of cat-and-mouse action, which doesn't particularly add much to the story. We don't really learn much about the characters or what really any of this means.
Eventually, the two meet, and the film's conclusion is a small fist-fight in which our protagonist loses -- and at this point it's safe to assume that the viewer should be aware of what's going on in the grander scale of things, but none of it is really evident -- and now his mother is the next target. Told to kill off the officer's family, alongside him, before she becomes the next target, the son sets off to do just that, but it's too late.
Rather than meeting the same fate as his family, his life is spared for sparing the officer's family and is given the punishment of losing both arms, and that's all there really is to it. It feels rushed, convoluted, and very lackluster. That said, given Refn's colourblindness, the film is rather colourful and striking visually and it's disappointing to admit, given it's difficult to recommend the film when nothing really makes sense and in the end you're stuck feeling particularly underwhelmed.
It's difficult to not overlook the art in the film, all the beautiful camerawork and cinematography, because you'll find yourself questioning events and trying to really catch it, feeling as if you've missed a fundamental piece of the narrative along the way. If you're interested in the director and his work, I can say I can recommend it. If you're searching for a genuinely good film, this isn't going to sit well with you.
In the words of Refn himself, "[Only God Forgives] isn't another Drive."