October 23 2026, 07:05
Her Private Hell
Actress Elle arrives at a hotel in a mysterious city where she is to be in a film produced by her famous lothario father, Johnny Thunders. In the lobby she meets Hunter, a younger actress in the film, who joins them in the family’s suite. The city is shrouded in mist, and an entity called the Leatherman is prowling the streets killing young women. Elsewhere, an American G.I., Private K, is looking for his lost daughter.
I was excited to see this. Reviews were either love it or hate it, and after sitting with it for a few days, I’m still pondering some of the images, scenes and choices, which suggests it’s a rich film artistically. It was slow, but at no point was I bored because the camera is always looking at something interesting, and the score is majestically operatic. It’s a sensory experience. And the narrative wasn’t lacking, it just required some effort – the story isn’t spelled out.
Some of the metaphors are spelled out, though, my favourite being a woman being orgasmically ripped open by the Leatherman and crying out ‘Daddy!’. I found this funny rather than inept. There’s too much else going on to believe Refn wasn’t just enjoying himself with these details. Trusting the director’s vision is a choice I was happy to make.
As an experience, it’s like being in a warm bath with an eloquent aesthete (life goals). There are a lot of meta details in the media about how Refn had a heart operation and recovered his mojo, which didn’t endear me going in to the film, but I had a great time. It pairs well with Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, and descends from the lineage of Dario Argento’s Inferno. For me, this is one of the more interesting films of the year.
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