Only God Forgives (2013)

“It's a little more complicated than that, mother.”

“Meaning what, exactly?”

            Have you ever watched a movie and the whole time you are going “da fuck is this?” Sometimes “da fuck” can mean “this is insane!” or “seriously did that just happen”. Just think about all the times you have said that to yourself while watching a movie and what it meant for you. Then there are times where the “da fuck” is literally asking/saying “what the hell is happening I am so confused.” Only God Forgive was one of those movies where I thought I had a grip on the story and then something would happen and I would just say that wonderful phrase.

            This is what I was able to take away from the movie:

-          Ryan Goslin plays a guy named Julian. Julian and his brother Billy live in Bangkok.

-          Billy is sleaze and wants to have sex with an under aged girl. He convinces the owner of a strip club to let him have sex with his daughter. Billy gets a little nuts and he kills the girl. The owner then in turn kills Billy.

-          A former cop is not so much upset with the owner killing Billy than he is with the owner allowing the asshole to have sex with his teenage daughter. The cop takes his sword and chops the owner’s hand off.

-          Julian and some of his friends seek revenge at first. When Julian hears why his brother was killed he lets the owner go because his brother was a terrible human being.

-          Julian’s mother comes into town and she is batshit crazy and domineering. She is a drug lord of kind and has people all over the place that are willing to do anything she wants them to. She is pissed off at Julian for not killing the strip club owner so she sends some of her men after him and the cop as well once she finds out he was involved somehow.

-          The hit on the cop does not go over too well and the cop goes on his own killing spree with his trusty sword.

            So there is my quick rundown of Only God Forgives because it was just confusing as all hell. Literally almost every scene I was like “da fuck?”  

            Visually the movie was very good. The colors were a mix of dark and earth tones and neon colors. They were all unsettling and menacing together and that really added to the story. All the character are wacked out and menacing.

            What I was able to understand of the scenes where we see the thought process and actual thoughts of the characters was really interesting. It was like a seeing a surrealist painting or story come to life. Not surprising on that since the surrealists were all about dreams and psychology.

            Only God Forgives was not a terrible movie. I only recommend the movie to those who are really into movies. Obviously, the story is a bit confusing and if you are not into visuals and really having to pay attention or think about what is happening on screen you will be bored out of your misery.