Her Private Hell review
If only they had actually kept it private.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Her Private Hell
Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Written by Nicolas Winding Refn and Esti Giordani
Starring Sophie Thatcher, Charles Melton, Havana Rose Liu, Kristine Forseth, Shioli Kutsuna, Aoi Yamada, Dougray Scott and Diego Calva
Her Private Hell Review
There is no way to lay out the plot of Her Private Hell without it sounding way more entertaining than it is. I thought about this a lot while I was watching it slowly unfold in front of me. It looks interesting…it has interesting ideas…and it is as boring as it could possibly be. Let’s see how it reads on paper:
A dangerous mist engulfs the world in the future. An actress (Sophie Tatcher) wrestles with the difficult feelings created when her former best friend becomes her new stepmother. Out of the mist comes a serial killing entity that is ripping women apart…literally. Meanwhile, a grieving father (Charles Melton) is on a violent and dangerous mission to kill the entity known as The Leatherman…believing it is the only way to see his daughter again.
That movie sounds cool. Throw in ultra-stylish visuals and you have the makings of an awesome time at the movies. Fight scenes…a unique killer…family drama…this movie has everything! Except a pulse. It’s difficult to describe how ponderous and empty Her Private Hell feels while you are watching it. The best I can do is to tell you that, hours after it ended, it feels like a part of me is still stuck in the theater watching it. It feels like a part of me always will be.
Writer/director Nicolas Winding Refn is no stranger to divisive films. I’ve never seen The Neon Demon but just as many people tell me to avoid it as tell me it was interesting. I’m sure it’s better than Her Private Hell…but I’m suddenly not finding myself drawn to it as much as I was yesterday. He also made Bronson and Drive…which are far better received features. If I’m not mistaken he’s taking on Maniac Cop next. So…I’ll be back in the theater again despite this notable misstep.
But it is a notable misstep, nonetheless. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “style over substance” before. I don’t think that does Her Private Hell justice. Because both the style and the substance here are completely drowned out by what I can only describe as a self-indulgent mess made for an audience of one. Any intriguing concept is immediately undone by an almost admirable pretentiousness that can’t be ignored. It’s like the mist from the story is suffocating you in your seat. No. Even that sounds cooler than it actually is. What is…is a collection of weird choices and nothing moments with an occasional fight scene that wakes you up just to end up bored again within minutes.
Sophie Thatcher gave a terrific performance in last year’s Companion. She might as well be on the moon in this one. The material she’s working with is so shallow and underwritten that she, unironically, seems more like a robot in this movie than she did in Companion. It’s not her fault. I don’t know what anyone is supposed to do with whatever this was meant to be. Charles Melton fares better. Because his character never has to talk. He just has to look fit and kick some ass every once in a while. Those are the unquestioned highlights of Her Private Hell…but the movie even manages to drop the ball on that in the end. The movie switches perspectives between the Thatcher and Melton throughout the story. When the final showdown with The Leatherman arrives…it doesn’t even bother to show it from the right perspective. We’re left on the sideline while something vaguely interesting is finally happening. That sums up Her Private Hell pretty well.
I’m almost always in favor of directors who don’t get notes on their work. Her Private Hell is one of the rare examples where that doesn’t hold up. Refn’s refusal to care what you think about his work can be found in almost every frame of this movie. That might sound cool to an angsty teenager…but it’s actually just a hollow and selfish way to make art meant for public consumption. It’s one thing to craft a divisive movie that stays true to a belief or a creed that you want to put out into the world. The only thing resembling that in Her Private Hell is Refn’s clear uncaring mentality towards the audience that manages to stay awake throughout it.
Scare Value
Her Private Hell is a bad movie. It happens. Often, in fact. What makes this one particularly disappointing is that the elements for something good were all over the place. It looks great. There is a badass silent asskicking character. A unique killer stalks through the mist ripping people apart. The only way to screw things up to the level that Her Private Hell does is on purpose. It’s a movie that some people will claim to like because it’s different and they’ll try to read some deep analysis into it. The only thing most people will find is a filmmaker who wants you to know that he doesn’t care what you think. The good news is that you don’t have to care either. I could have rated this lower but some of the fight scenes were worth suffering through the rest to get to.
1.5/5
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