Just came out of a special preview screening of HER PRIVATE HELL, the newest film by Danish auteur Nicholas Winding Refn, who also happened to be there and did a short (but fun!) Q&A at the start. Well… That film was quite something 🤪 I’d liken it to being in a relationship with an unhinged supermodel girlfriend who’s addicted to Xanax: Stunningly beautiful to look at, completely bonkers, occasional violent outbursts, but mostly just glacially slow and tests your patience. It features some of the most stilted, awkward and risibly pretentious dialogue I’ve heard this side of MEGALOPOLIS, read out at a languid snail’s pace… that… stretches… your… patience… to… the… limit.
I get the feeling that’s entirely deliberate though. I suspect Nicholas Winding Refn woke up from a cool weird sexy dream that involved lipstick lesbians in an abstract foggy cyberpunk version of Sin City and decided to just run with it as a film. Its adherence to the sense of dreamlike immersion means it’s certainly quite cool and imaginative but the more you think about what’s happening, the less sense any of it makes. It’s only dream logic in play, which means in practice – not much logic. Just plenty of trippy vibes.
Visually, there’s few films out there like it. It really looks amazing with stunning use of colour. There are probably hundreds of incredible, vibrant frames you could print out and stick straight up on your wall as artwork. Sophie Thatcher and her female costars are quite mesmerising to watch as they swan around like they’re in an 80s music video for Midge Ure, lost in a haze of neon, smog and performative sensuality. Clearly heavily influenced by stylish Italian giallo directors like Dario Argento and Mario Bava, though the sleaziness and laughable dialogue feels like it’s been lifted from that genre too. Think it might have been a truly amazing experience with a hefty helping of mushrooms and gummies. But despite my lack of psychedelics, I actually quite enjoyed it in the end. Not sure I’d recommend it to most though, as it’s a bit of a slog. But if you’re in the mood for something slow, trippy and ambient, to space out to, it might work for you.
