Her Private Hell

Description

Her Private Hell marks Nicolas Winding Refn’s return to feature films. That doesn’t mean I’ve been counting down the days for a decade. Nor does it mean Refn has been idle. He’s directed several series and shorts, danced on TikTok, and lent his likeness to a character in Hideo Kojima’s meditative arthouse game, Death Stranding.

Out of Refn’s entire filmography, I’ve only seen three films, and only one truly won me over: Drive. The other two — Only God Forgives and The Neon Demon — I jokingly file under “pretentious crap.” I’m seriously considering making that an actual category on the site.

But to be honest, I’m not a fan of films where visuals heavily outweigh plot. There aren’t many movies with that kind of aesthetic that manage to hit me right in the heart, like Cupid shooting from the dark. So I usually avoid them. Though, who am I kidding: I watch them anyway, just not by choice. I watch, and I don’t enjoy it. Mostly because until recently, there was no Vegan Vampire to sort everything into proper shelves.

And to avoid any misunderstanding: visual style matters to me a lot. I always notice it, just like I notice a soundtrack. But I don’t like when visuals replace the plot almost entirely.

I remember watching The Neon Demon, waiting for the horror to finally kick in, only to get the end credits instead. A similar thing happened with Alex Garland’s Men. After that, I finally decided: I’ll build my own site. No blackjack or hookers (hope the Futurama reference lands), but with my own classification and ratings. Where descriptions and tags won’t mislead you by labeling something as “horror” without clarification, when it clearly isn’t one in the classical sense.

So, to wrap it up: knowing how Refn works, I hold only a faint hope that Her Private Hell won’t forget about plot and turn into yet another ode to aesthetics. Which, judging by the trailer, heavily evokes Blade Runner 2049 — and that’s actually great (cyberpunk aesthetic never goes out of style).

By the way, I think it’s a perfect example of how plot doesn’t have to lose to visual style. Denis Villeneuve masterfully combines long, often static shots, gloomy atmosphere, and attention to detail, all while keeping the story intact. I like all of Villeneuve’s films.

Again, wrote a wall of text and not a single word about the plot.
As soon as Her Private Hell becomes available to watch, I’ll definitely share my thoughts.