If Nicolas Winding Refn's previous collaboration with Ryan Gosling,
Drive, was a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale about escaping an unwanted life, then their spiritual sequel,
Only God Forgives, is a Grimm brothers fable about the slim differences between justice and revenge and the inescapable consequences of both. It's difficult to talk about
Only God Forgives without discussing
Drive and the qualities that seem purposefully mirrored. Where
Drive had a pulpy heroism,
Only God Forgives is rife with bleak nihilism. There are no heroes to be found in this film. Where
Drive had a dreamy hypnotism,
Only God Forgives has nightmarish menace pulsing beneath each frame. It's a calculated response to a film many people seemed to enjoy (for mostly surface reasons) and that's probably why a lot of people are intensely disliking this film. It's unfortunate, because
Only God Forgives is just as good as
Drive and in a few ways, it's better.
