Nicolas Winding Refn's latest film, "Her Private Hell," marks his return to feature filmmaking after a ten-year hiatus. The movie, which premiered out of competition at Cannes, is described as a "science fiction horror thriller" and is directed with Refn's signature lavish, neon-tinged style.
The plot of "Her Private Hell" is deliberately fractured and focuses on several converging storylines. One centers on Elle (Sophie Thatcher), a famous actress staying in a towering 5-star hotel while filming a schlocky space opera called *Candy Floss*. Elle's personal drama intensifies with the appearance of her stepmother, Dominique (Havana Rose Liu), who is also her costar. A menacing figure known as the Leather Man, a mythical horror creature with elegant suede-and-rhinestone gloves, preys on "lost young daughters," adding a supernatural horror element, and who some reviews describe as a sadomasochistic fetish figure or an escapee from a Dario Argento giallo film.
A parallel narrative strand introduces Kay (Charles Melton), an American GI stationed in postwar Japan, who roams the streets of Tokyo in search of his abducted daughter. Kay aims to confront the Leather Man with his bare fists, leading to violent encounters, including a gruesome fight scene with an extra-large yakuza. While the narratives appear disparate, Refn eventually attempts to bring them together, suggesting a thematic unity around damnation and psychic fate. The film is noted for its hypnotic visual style, often compared to an aesthetic derived from a "ChatGPT" prompt for Cloud City as imagined by a teenager on MDMA, and features a superbly lush orchestral score by Pino Donaggio.
While critics acknowledge Refn's dedication to his unique vision and lavish production, many find "Her Private Hell" to be excessively long, incoherent, and at times, actively combative to audience attention. Despite its dazzling visuals and the efforts of its cast, including Thatcher, Liu, and Melton, some reviewers found the film to be a "deathly dull slab of psychosexual melodrama" that fails to sustain engagement. However, others suggest that viewers willing to embrace Refn's "trashy madness" might find a "transcendental method" and an "intoxicatingly emotional" experience.
