#her private hell

Her Private Hell

Nicolas Winding Refn is back with another mind melter. This time with Her Private Hell, which stars Sophie Thatcher and Charles Melton. 

Her Private Hell’s plot leaves a lot to be desired .The film is set in the future, in a fictional, futuristic city that is shrouded in a mysterious mist. Our main characters are making a movie for Sophie Thatcher’s character’s dad. And her step mom is someone who is a peer to her.

This whole movie feels like a fever dream. The plot doesn’t really make any sense as you are watching it and truly nothing really happens. They just go and try to make this movie while strange things are happening and people are being killed by some mysterious spirit. The aesthetic is really well done. Refn has a keen eye for really pleasing visuals. Everything is perfect. And the lighting is amazing. The atmosphere he created was the star of this movie.

But flashy visuals aside the film provides nothing to latch onto. The performances are flat. The story and journey the characters take is, in the end, useless and barely coherent. It doesn’t really make much sense at all.

There seems to be some type of attempt at adding a deeper meaning but any attempt is thwarted by the lifeless dull screenplay. The dialogue feels stilted and even this amazing cast couldn’t really pull this one together.

There are influences from giallo films and also older science fiction films that use practical sets to their advantage and that really beefs the movie up. But the movie itself is also too long, it over stays it’s welcome and quite literally never goes anywhere. There’s no real stakes. And it feels almost like a drama or character study of these people but the plot is incoherent and really never gets to where it should.

Thatcher is beautiful and shines every time she is on screen. She is the perfect person for this role but she was underutilized based on the other critiques.

its my first ever time writing smth so 🫪

Leatherman (for Her Private Hell)

2oz dry gin

0.25oz absinthe type liqueur

2oz very cold water