Two stories for the price of one: a video store clerk tries to get acquainted with a waitress; a man beats his pregnant wife, unaware that her brother is a violent racist.
Acting
Mikkelsen's Lenny — heartbreaking, infuriating, unforgettable.
Direction
Refn's kinetic camerawork in cramped Danish spaces.
Writing
Dialogue so awkward it crawls under your skin.
Director
Nicolas Winding Refn
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Refn was only 24 when he made this, immediately banned from Danish state funding for its brutality.
The video store setting isn't nostalgia — Refn worked at one, and Lenny's social paralysis mirrors his own youth.
DK
