6. Sex Appeal
If there's one thing I really felt like Drive lacked, it was some sex appeal. It instead focused on a quasi-romance between Driver and Irene (Carey Mulligan), which mutated into a more repressed relationship once her husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac) got out of prison. One of the key themes of the film was that Driver never gets to properly consummate his feelings for this woman, instead taking the role of protector and ensuring that her family stays safe. The sleazy, kinky setting of Bangkok gives Refn a far freer reign to up the sex appeal this time, and the trailers certainly indicate this to be true; Gosling's Julian can be seen pacing through what appear to be neon-lit strip-clubs and brothels, and his relationship with girlfriend Mai (Rathar Phongam) seems to be a lot more "fulfilled" than Driver's with Irene. If in Drive Mulligan was more a likable maternal figure, while the usually-gorgeous Christina Hendricks was busy having her head splattered against the wall, in Only God Forgives the focus seems to be more on sexy femmes who we hope stay very much in one piece.