In just 8 short days, the 66th annual Cannes Film Festival kicks off, and one of the most anticipated films has to unquestionably be Nicolas Winding Refn's follow-up to his hugely acclaimed art-house thriller Drive, the mysteriously titled Only God Forgives. Reunited with Ryan Gosling for another film that seems set to challenge audiences as much as it entertains them, the exotic setting, international cast and more ambitious premise could put the film in line to live up to, if not outdo Refn's previous work. In a little over a week, we'll have all the answers as reviews begin to seep out over the course of the festival. As for now, we can only speculate from the gorgeous trailers and clips we've seen so far. Here are 8 ways Only God Forgives could live up to Drive...
8. Ultra-Violence
One of the highlights of Drive was how absurdly ultra-violent it was, but Refn smartly controlled the shocking attacks into brief yet incredibly disturbing bursts. Perhaps the most memorable scenes in Drive violence-wise were Driver stomping a guy's face to pieces in a lift, Christina Hendricks having her head blown off with a shotgun, and Bryan Cranston having his wrists gruesomely slit open by Albert Brooks. Needless to say, if Only God Forgives wants to live up to that level of violence, it's going to need to be pretty out there. Still, in interviews for the film, Ryan Gosling has stated that it is more violent than Drive, and given that the main antagonist appears to wield a samurai sword for much of the film, this shouldn't be surprising. The film's synopsis tells us that at least one person has a limb severed, and it wouldn't shock me to see many more.