This. And four more shots of Ryan Gosling in Only God Forgives, after the cut, via Collider. For his followup, Nicolas Winding Refn is considering a brutal thriller featuring another stoic story of vengeance based on the 1992 UK graphic novel Button Man: Killing Game. It’s about an assassin tagged to kill-or-be-killed in an underground hunt devised by a group of millionaires who place bets on professional hit-man to see who’ll be the last man standing. One of the shooters wants out. That’s a violation of the First Rule of Sniper Club.
Synopsis of Only God Forgives. Somewhat spoilerish.
Bangkok. Ten years ago Julian killed a cop and went on the run. Now he manages a Thai boxing club as a front for a drugs operation. Respected in the criminal underworld, deep inside, he feels empty.
When Julian’s brother murders a prostitute the police call on retired cop Chang – the Angel of Vengeance. Chang allows the father to kill his daughter’s murderer, then ‘restores order’ by chopping off the man’s right hand.
Julian’s mother Jenna – the head of a powerful criminal organization – arrives in Bangkok to collect her son’s body. She dispatches Julian to find his killers and ‘raise hell’.
Increasingly obsessed with the Angel of Vengeance, Julian challenges him to a boxing match, hoping that by defeating him he might find spiritual release… but Chang triumphs. A furious Jenna plots revenge and the stage is set for a bloody journey through betrayal and vengeance towards a final confrontation and the possibility of redemption.
