Julian, who runs a Thai boxing club as a front organization for his family's drug smuggling operation, is forced by his mother Crystal to find and kill the individual responsible for his brother's recent death.

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.

'Only God Forgives' delivers jaw-droppingly beautiful cinematography with striking neon-bathed visuals and an immersive, dark atmosphere that lingers long after viewing. Kristin Scott Thomas commands attention with her powerful performance. However, the film deeply divides audiences—many criticize its agonizingly slow pacing, minimal plot, and lack of narrative substance, finding it excruciating and unwatchable. The deliberate stylistic choices either captivate as experimental brilliance or frustrate as pretentious emptiness, making this a polarizing experience best suited for patient viewers seeking atmospheric art cinema.