I went to a Q&A with Nicolas Winding Refn about a week before I saw Only God Forgives, and he told an anecdote about how at Cannes, a woman had come up to him and told him that she thought the film took place inside a vagina. Refn was surprised, but told her "I think you might be right!" At the time it seemed like a funny little story about weird interpretations, but after seeing the movie, I think she was definitely on the right track, because Only God Forgives is, ultimately, about a man who is still attached to his mother, like the umbilical cord was never cut.
Ryan Gosling plays Julian, a underground boxing manager/drug runner living in Bangkok. His cruelly overbearing mother, Crystal (played by Kristin Scott Thomas), comes from the U.S. after Billy, her other son, is killed by a man seeking revenge from the rape and murder of his daughter. Unconcerned with the circumstances of Billy's death, Crystal demands bloody revenge on those responsible, and expects Julian to do it. Her hold on him is absolute; in her first scene her touch is more like a python coiling around its prey than a mother interacting with her child. She lashes out at whatever comes her way, whether it's a mildly unhelpful hotel concierge or Julian's sort-of-girlfriend Mai, and insists that the world's rules bend to her whim.
On the other side of the story is Chang (Vithaya Pansringarm), a cop who indirectly allows the murder victim's father to brutally murder Billy. He too, rules his world with an iron fist, punishing criminals through torture, amputation, or death. Despite his gruesome methods of justice, he has more compassion than the tyrannical Crystal; we see him apologize to his wife for coming home late and look after his child after a night of brutality. Crystal believes it's Julian's responsibility as Billy's brother to kill Chang, and Julian is stuck between the obvious danger of going up against Chang and the intense pressure from his mother.
Julian is paralyzed by women and their sexuality; he watches his girlfriend masturbate as his hands are bound, he rarely speaks, especially around his mother. The image of his hands flexing into fists, is a recurring theme; the only way he can assert himself is through violence, and his mother even has control over that. Many of the interiors, particularly in Julian's scenes, are a deep red, as if he is literally still inside his mother, and connecting her to the bloody violence of the film. Instead of dialogue, the soundtrack takes precedent, seamlessly linking a dark, heavy score with Thai karaoke songs that take on an oddly sinister air when sung by Chang.
There have been very mixed reviews for this film, and a lot of it are making the misstep of comparing it to Drive because of Ryan Gosling playing another taciturn character who has violent tendencies. This is not a sequel or spiritual successor to Drive, and the only similarities are purely superficial. (One of them is actually coincidental as well; Luke Evans was originally supposed to play Julian, but he dropped out due to scheduling conflicts with the next two Hobbit films, so Gosling took on the role.) Only God Forgives toes the line between narrative and experimental film; if you go into this film thinking about Drive, you will leave confused and disappointed.
