Only God Forgives

Julian and Billy are brothers and American expatriates, who run a Muay Thai boxing club in Bangkok as a front for drug dealing. One night, Billy goes looking for sex and visits a brothel, saying he wants a 14-year-old girl, but the brothel-keeper refuses. Enraged, Billy attacks him with a wine bottle and breaks into the room where the prostitutes are on display and attacks one of them. At another location, Billy later assaults and kills an underage prostitute where he is cornered by Thai police. Chang, who is a vigilante-type police lieutenant, brings the girl's father Choi to identify his daughter's body and allows Choi to beat Billy to death. Chang later severs Choi's right forearm with his sword for allowing his daughter to be a prostitute.

Upon discovering Billy's death, Julian and his crew confront Choi, but Julian spares his life after hearing his version of the facts. Meantime, Julian and Billy's mother Crystal arrives in Bangkok and demands that he kill the man responsible for Billy's death. Julian refuses, believing Choi's revenge was justified. After having Choi killed, Crystal learns of Chang's involvement, where she meets with a rival drug dealer named Byron and offers to cut him into her drug operation in exchange for a hit on Chang. Chang investigates Choi's murder and concludes Julian is not the killer. That evening, Julian brings Mai, a prostitute, as his girlfriend to meet Crystal at a restaurant. However, Crystal discovers the ruse, where she insults Mai and demeans Julian.

Two hitmen hired by Byron attempt to kill Chang with machine guns at a restaurant, causing the deaths of numerous customers and two of Chang's men. Chang shoots one and also tortures the other before killing him. The hitman leads Chang to Li Po, who has resorted to arranging hits to pay for his disabled son. Chang kills the hitman with his sword but spares Li Po. Chang finds Byron in a club and graphically tortures him to death but cannot find the person who ordered the hit. After recognizing Chang as the man from his visions and failing to follow him, Julian eventually finds Chang and challenges him to a fight at his boxing club. Chang quickly defeats Julian, who cannot land a single blow. Afterwards, Crystal tells Julian that Chang has figured out that she ordered the hit, where she pleads with Julian to kill Chang.

Crystal promises that after Julian eliminates Chang, they can go back home and she will be a true mother to him. Julian and his associate Charlie infiltrate Chang's home and plan to ambush him. After learning that Charlie was instructed to execute the entire family, Julian kills Charlie before he can kill Chang's daughter. Chang confronts Crystal in her hotel room, where she tells him about Julian's violent behaviour. Chang stabs Crystal in the throat. Later, Julian returns to the hotel and finds his mother's corpse, where he cuts open her abdomen and shoves his hand inside it. Julian later stands in a field with Chang, offering him his hands voluntarily so he can cut them off with the same weapon with which he killed Crystal. Later, Chang performs a song in a karaoke club filled with fellow police officers.

• Ryan Gosling as Julian Thompson, an American who lives in Bangkok and "is a respected figure in the criminal underworld" according to a production synopsis.{{cite web |last=Goldberg |first=Matt |title=First Synopsis for Nicolas Winding Refn's ONLY GOD FORGIVES Starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Ryan Gosling |url=http://collider.com/only-god-forgives-movie-synopsis/124050 |work=Collider.com |access-date=11 July 2012 |date=2 November 2011}} Gosling was in negotiations to star in the film in June 2011 after Luke Evans dropped out due to scheduling conflicts with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.{{cite web |last=Fischer |first= Russ |title=Ryan Gosling Joining Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives [Updated] |url=http://www.slashfilm.com/ryan-gosling-joining-nicolas-winding-refn-only-god-forgives |work=/Film |date=23 June 2011 |access-date=7 March 2012}} Gosling had undertaken Muay Thai training in preparation for the role by that September,{{cite web |url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/ryan_gosling_calls_upcoming_project_only_god_forgives_the_strangest_thing_h |title=Ryan Gosling Calls Upcoming Project Only God Forgives The "Strangest Thing" He's Ever Read |last=Otto |first=Jeff |date=26 September 2011 |work=The Playlist |publisher=IndieWire |access-date=7 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111031052449/http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/archives/ryan_gosling_calls_upcoming_project_only_god_forgives_the_strangest_thing_h |archive-date=31 October 2011 }} which included 2–3 hour daily sessions.{{cite web |last=Mackey |first=Michael |title=Ryan Gosling Responds to Oscar Snub; Reveals Details of Project Filming in Bangkok |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ryan-gosling-thailand-oscars-only-god-forgives-285437 |work=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=10 July 2012 |date=27 January 2012}} Refn also participated in the training. Gosling and Refn had recently worked together on the neo-noir action drama Drive (2011). Julian speaks only 17 lines throughout the film.{{cite news | first=Matt | last=Patches | title=Cannes: Ryan Gosling Only Has 17 Lines in the Bloody Only God Forgives |url=http://www.hollywood.com/news/movies/55015142/ryan-gosling-only-god-forgives-review | newspaper=hollywood.com | date=22 May 2013 | access-date=31 August 2013}} The idea for Julian to stick his hand into his dead mother's womb came from Gosling himself.{{cite web |url=http://www.hollywood.com/news/movies/55023360/only-god-forgives-ryan-gosling-nicolas-winding-refn | title=The Mysterious Bromance of Ryan Gosling and His Only God Forgives Director Nicolas Winding Refn | first=Michael | last=Arbeiter | newspaper=hollywood.com |date=19 July 2013 | access-date=1 November 2013}}
• Kristin Scott Thomas as Crystal Thompson, Julian and Billy's mother, who is described as "a merciless and terrifying mafia godmother" combining elements of Lady Macbeth and Donatella Versace. Scott Thomas was cast by May 2011.{{cite web |last=Fischer |first=Russ |title=Nicolas Winding Refn Casts Luke Evans and Kristin Scott-Thomas in Thai Western Only God Forgives |url=http://www.slashfilm.com/nicolas-winding-refn-luke-evans-kristin-scott-thomas-thai-western-only-god-forgives |work=/Film |access-date=10 July 2012 |date=2 May 2011}}
• Vithaya Pansringarm as Lieutenant Chang / "The Angel of Vengeance", a man that believes himself to be God "[i]n the sense that God in the Old Testament is saying 'I can be cruel, you have to fear me' as 'I can be kind, you have to love me.{{' "}}{{cite web | first=Ben | last=Umstead |url=http://twitchfilm.com/2013/07/interview-nicolas-winding-refn-and-cliff-martinez.html | title='Ask Not What Art Is, But What It Is Not': Nicolas Winding Refn And Cliff Martinez On ONLY GOD FORGIVES | date=17 July 2013 | publisher=Twitch | access-date=18 August 2013}} Pansringarm did his own Thai boxing and singing for his role. Refn stated in an interview: "The character of One Eye went into Drive then went into the Thai police lieutenant. They're the same character played by three different actors [...] a mythological creature that has a mysterious past but cannot relate to reality because he's heightened and he's pure fetish."{{cite web |url=http://www.sbs.com.au/films/movie-news/909184/only-god-forgives-nicolas-winding-refn-interview | title=Only God Forgives: Nicolas Winding Refn interview |first=Helen | last=Barlow | date=18 July 2013 | publisher=sbs.com.au | access-date=18 August 2013}}
• Gordon Brown as Gordon, Julian and Billy's lieutenant. Brown earlier played a walk-on role in Refn's Bronson and a supporting part in Valhalla Rising.
• Rhatha Phongam{{cite web |last=Dang |first=Simon |title=Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives Adds Vithaya Pansringarm And Pop-Star Yaya Ying |url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/nicolas_winding_refns_only_god_forgives_adds_vithaya_pansringarm_and_yaya |work=The Playlist |publisher=IndieWire |date=11 May 2011 |access-date=7 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230232001/http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/nicolas_winding_refns_only_god_forgives_adds_vithaya_pansringarm_and_yaya |archive-date=30 December 2013 |url-status=dead }} as Mai, a prostitute associated with Julian
• Tom Burke{{cite magazine |last= Labrecque |first= Jeff |title= Ryan Gosling's Thailand gangster film goes to Radius-TWC |url=http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/03/01/ryan-gosling-only-god-forgives |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=11 July 2012 |date=1 March 2012}} as Billy Thompson, Julian's older brother
• Byron Gibson as Byron
• Danai Thiengdham as Li Po
• Sahajak Boonthanakit as Police Colonel Kim
• Nophand Boonyai as Charlie
• Teerawat Mulvilai as Ko Sam
• Kovit Wattanakul as Choi Yan Lee
• Wittchuta Watjanarat as Ma Fong

Refn has said that "[f]rom the beginning, [he] had the idea of a thriller produced as a western, all in the Far East, and with a modern cowboy hero." He originally planned to direct Only God Forgives directly after Valhalla Rising (2009), but he accepted Gosling's request to direct Drive instead.{{cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Kevin P. |title=Only God Forgives Will Share The 'Language' Of Drive|url=http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/06/25/only-god-forgives-drive-ryan-gosling |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629010203/http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/06/25/only-god-forgives-drive-ryan-gosling |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 June 2012 |publisher=MTV |access-date=10 July 2012 |date=15 June 2012}} Gosling has described the script of Only God Forgives as "the strangest thing I've ever read and it's only going to get stranger." Like Drive, the film was largely shot chronologically and scenes were often edited the day they were shot.

Footage was screened at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.{{cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Kevin P. |title=Ryan Gosling's Only God Forgives Debuts Footage at Cannes |url=http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/05/25/ryan-gosling-only-god-forgives-cannes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120528101950/http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/05/25/ryan-gosling-only-god-forgives-cannes |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 May 2012 |publisher=MTV |access-date=11 July 2012 |date=25 May 2012}} Refn drew a connection between Only God Forgives and Drive, saying that "[Only God Forgives] is very much a continuation of that language"—"[i]t's based on real emotions, but set in a heightened reality. It's a fairy tale."

The film received a very divided response at its Cannes press screening; it was booed by many of the audience of journalists and critics while also receiving a standing ovation.{{cite web|work=The Local | date=22 May 2013 | title=Cannes jeers Gosling's film Only God Forgives |url=http://www.thelocal.fr/20130522/cannes-jeers-goslings-only-god-forgives#.UZzjdkpz5ft | access-date=22 May 2013}}{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22630029 |title=Ryan Gosling film Only God Forgives divides Cannes critics |date=23 May 2013 |access-date=23 May 2013 |publisher=BBC News}}

It received a polarized response from mainstream critics: review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 41% based on reviews from 167 critics, with a weighted average of 5.30/10. The site's consensus states: "Director Refn remains as visually stylish as ever, but Only God Forgives fails to add enough narrative smarts or relatable characters to ground its beautifully filmed depravity."{{cite web |publisher = Rotten Tomatoes |title= Only God Forgives (2013) |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/only_god_forgives_2013/ | access-date=8 March 2018}} Metacritic assigns the film a weighted average rating of 37 out of 100 based on the reviews of 39 professional critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/movie/only-god-forgives|title=Only God Forgives Reviews | access-date=5 August 2013 | publisher=Metacritic }}

Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph reflected concerns over the film in a three out of five star review. "The film's characters are non-people; the things they say to each other are non-conversations, the events they enact are non-drama," he wrote. But he praised Refn for following up his commercially successful film Drive with "...this abstruse, neon-dunked nightmare that spits in the face of coherence and flicks at the earlobes of good taste".{{cite news |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|location=London| title=Cannes 2013: Only God Forgives, review | last = Collin | first = Robbie | date=22 May 2013 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/cannes-film-festival/10073237/Cannes-2013-Only-God-Forgives-review.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524002023/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/cannes-film-festival/10073237/Cannes-2013-Only-God-Forgives-review.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 May 2013 | access-date=22 May 2013}}

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave it five out of five stars, calling it gripping and praising the "pure formal brilliance" of every scene and frame, though he notes that it will "have people running for the exits, and running for the hills" with its extreme violence.{{cite news | newspaper=The Guardian | location=Kings Place | last = Bradshaw | first = Peter|author-link=Peter Bradshaw|title=Cannes 2013: Only God Forgives – first look review|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/may/22/cannes-only-good-forgives-ryan-gosling-review|date=22 May 2013 |access-date=22 May 2013}} In an alternative review published in The Guardian, John Patterson was highly critical of the film, citing its lack of originality and the low degree of focus on plot: "Somewhere in here is a story that Refn can hardly be bothered to tell... I feel the ghosts of other movies—his influences, his inspirations—crowding in on his own work, suffocating him, and somehow leaving less of him on screen."

Bill Gibron of PopMatters wrote "David Lynch must be laughing. If he had created something like Only God Forgives, substituting his own quirky casting for the rather staid choices made by actual director Nicolas Winding Refn, he would have walked away from Cannes 2013 with yet another Palme d'Or, another notch in his already sizeable artistic belt, and the kind of critical appreciation that only comes when a proven auteur once again establishes his creative credentials."{{cite web |publisher=PopMatters |title=Only God Forgives, Not this Fascinating Film's Director |last= Gibron | first = Bill|date=19 July 2013 |url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/173700-only-god-forgives-not-this-fascinating-films-director/ | access-date=19 July 2013|archive-date=22 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130822110920/https://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/173700-only-god-forgives-not-this-fascinating-films-director/|url-status=dead}}

Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave this film a positive review, giving it three and a half stars saying: "Refn's follow-up effort to the similarly polarizing Drive (which I thought was flat-out great) is even more stylized and daring. Drive star Ryan Gosling (who is clearly interested in carving out a career with at least as many bold, indie-type roles as commercial, leading-man fare) strikes a Brando pose playing Julian, a smoldering, seemingly lethal American who navigates the seediest sides of Bangkok."{{cite web|work=Chicago Sun-Times|url=http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/movies/21378516-421/every-bloody-moment-demands-attention-in-only-god-forgives.html|author-link=Richard Roeper|last=Roeper|first=Richard|date=18 July 2013|title=Every bloody moment demands attention in Only God Forgives|access-date=18 July 2013|archive-date=22 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130822110920/https://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/173700-only-god-forgives-not-this-fascinating-films-director/|url-status=dead}}

In 2015, the film was included in The Guardian{{'}}s top 50 films of the decade so far.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jan/05/top-50-films-of-the-demi-decade-peter-bradshaw|title=Peter Bradshaw's top 50 films of the demi-decade|last=Bradshaw|first=Peter|work=The Guardian|date=5 January 2015|access-date=29 April 2015}}

{{Anchor|Awards|Accolades}}

The film won the Grand Prize at the Sydney Film Festival.{{cite news|last=Bulbeck|first=Pip |title=Ryan Gosling Starrer Only God Forgives Wins Sydney Film Prize |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ryan-gosling-starrer-god-forgives-570504 |newspaper=The Hollywood Reporter | date=18 June 2013 | access-date=15 July 2013}}

• Only God Forgives (soundtrack)

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|1602613}}
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• {{Rotten Tomatoes|only_god_forgives_2013}}
• {{Metacritic film}}

{{Nicolas Winding Refn}}

{{Sydney Film Prize}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Only God Forgives}}

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