Only God Forgives, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, stars Ryan Gosling as an American drug dealer running a boxing club in Bangkok. (I previously reviewed Lost In Thailand and other films set here for Encounter Thailand.) Refn and Gosling previously collaborated on the Drive, which received much better reviews than Only God Forgives.
Gosling's brother murders a Thai prostitute, and her father kills him in revenge. The father then has his hand cut off by a corrupt Thai cop wielding a sword. Gosling's mother arrives in Bangkok, and asks Gosling to avenge his brother's death. His mother, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, is one of the film's most unsympathetic characters, and there are hints at an Oedipal relationship between her and her sons.
The film's cinematography, by Larry Smith, is outstanding, with plenty of shadows and ominous red lighting. Smith worked with Stanley Kubrick on several films, and Only God Forgives is rather Kubrickian with its slow zooms and symmetrical compositions. In another similarity with Kubrick, the characters in Only God Forgives act in an unrealistic, impassive manner; they sit perfectly still or walk slowly in long, silent sequences punctuated only by loud footsteps.
Gosling's character is potentially interesting, though his moral ambiguities are never explored. There are occasional bursts of graphic violence, as the cop tortures and kills everyone connected with the prostitute's death, though the film's slow pace and lack of suspense make it unsuccessful as a thriller.
Source:
http://blog.matthewhunt.com/2013/07/only-god-forgives.html