Ryan Gosling Bangkok crime flick “Only God Forgives” reportedly elicited boos from the audience at its Cannes Film Festival premiere.
Some audience members jeered the ultra-violent film after its screening, according to Moviefone, but that’s not uncommon at the chichi French film fest. Other films that have been booed at Cannes include “Taxi Driver,” “Crash,” and “Wild at Heart.”
Sasha Stone of AwardsDaily called it “the careful work of a serial killer — not literally out there killing women but indulging in one bloody killing after another, practically licking the knife afterwards.”
“As hyper-aggressive revenge fantasies go, it’s curious to see one so devoid of feeling, a veniality even ‘Drive’ fans likely won’t be inclined to forgive.” said Peter Debruge from Variety.
HitFix’s Oscar expert Guy Lodge gave it a mixed review: ” Even amid my appreciation for its woozy, sculpted grossness, however, I can’t help wishing ‘Only God Forgives’ was doing a little more, and I mean purely on the level of nuts-and-bolts storytelling, not grander emotional or thematic resonance.”
While critic Jeff Wells ripped the movie, calling it “malignant, odious crap,” later adding, “It’s rare to find a movie as dedicated as this one to making absolutely no sense” and “I was repelled by this film in ways I didn’t know I could be repelled before I saw it.”
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