Going into Her Private Hell, I was pretty excited, but also curious to see how I was going to feel about it. The first thing I heard about the film was when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, where it received a ton of divisive reactions. Friends of mine who attended the festival all had different takes, and the scores on Letterboxd were all over the place. A friend of mine even checked it out the night before I did and seemed like they could not fully decide how they felt about it or even explain what they had just watched. I knew I was walking into something interesting.
The film is directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, who co-wrote it alongside Esti Giordani. This is Refn’s first feature-length film since 2016’s The Neon Demon. He has also directed films like Drive, so he is definitely a filmmaker who has made a few things I have enjoyed. He has worked on short films and other projects over the past decade, but knowing this was his first feature-length film in years that he was writing and directing made me incredibly curious to see how it would feel.
Set within a sprawling dystopian metropolis, Her Private Hell follows a troubled young woman navigating an increasingly surreal and dangerous world. Elsewhere, an American soldier relentlessly searches for his missing daughter. As both descend deeper into violence, obsession, and psychological torment, their separate stories gradually build toward a haunting and unexpected conclusion.
Truthfully, I came out of this film feeling very mixed. There is a lot to enjoy about Her Private Hell, but I think this is immediately the kind of movie where mileage is going to vary depending on personal taste. I can see why some people may walk away really enjoying it, but I am also not surprised to see many of the low scores it has received on Letterboxd.
This is not a film I would recommend to the general moviegoer. It has a lot of style and can sometimes feel like it does not always have the substance to match. At the same time, there are interesting things about the film and a lot that can be taken from it. Unfortunately, it ultimately feels more like a beautiful film than a deep one. There are several moments where it seems like the movie believes it is far more clever than it actually is.
The biggest positive is absolutely the filmmaking. This is a gorgeous-looking movie. The set design, wardrobe, costume design, hair, and makeup are all top-tier from beginning to end. The cast is also great.
I really enjoyed Sophie Thatcher at the center of the story. She is an actress I have enjoyed more and more over the past few years, and I think she gives a really good performance here. There is a lot asked of her as she moves through a range of different emotions, and I think she is incredibly solid as Elle.
We are introduced to Elle as the daughter of a wealthy philanthropist who surrounds himself with young, beautiful women. She is caught in the middle of that world and feels disconnected from her father, even though he has helped shape the person she has become. She relies on a life of wealth and luxury, but she also seems completely jaded by it.
One of her close friends, played by Havana Rose Liu, is married to her father, which has destroyed much of their relationship. We also learn that there may have once been something more than friendship between the two women. Their storyline eventually plays into many of the film’s larger themes.
Havana Rose Liu is really solid, and Charles Melton also delivers a strong performance as the American soldier searching for his missing daughter. A major part of the story involves an evil figure known as the Leatherman, who moves through the city abducting and killing young women. Melton’s character has been searching for his daughter since these disappearances began, taking out members of the Yakuza and several other people along the way.
The world of the film is incredibly strange. It exists within a neo-noir, futuristic metropolis that does not feel entirely grounded in reality. There are science-fiction and futuristic elements, but there are also details that feel very modern. The entire location exists in a dreamlike state, which I found interesting.
One element that makes the film visually fantastic is its set design and lighting. All of this is elevated by the cinematography from Magnus Nordenhof Jønck. I loved the look of this movie. It feels like almost every shot could be a painting.
The compositions, staging, and use of lighting create a film that is immediately aesthetically pleasing. This is especially true for viewers who enjoy futuristic settings, science-fiction imagery, vibrant lighting, and neon colors. It is a bright and colorful movie that also uses deep shadows and darker tones to create great contrast.
Another fantastic element is the musical score by Pino Donaggio, who previously worked on films like Carrie, Dressed to Kill, and Blow Out. The music adds tremendously to the film’s atmosphere and fits the visuals perfectly. It has a classical, almost old-school quality while also creating tension during the more action-heavy and horror-focused sequences.
In terms of horror, this is more of a psychological horror film with a few bloodier moments. I would not necessarily recommend going into it expecting a conventional horror experience. It is far more psychological than anything else.
The best way I can describe my overall opinion of the film is to compare it to those videos showing how food is prepared for fast-food advertisements. You see how everything is carefully assembled, sprayed, adjusted, and lit to create a perfect-looking cheeseburger. Some of the ingredients may not even be real, and when you eventually purchase that same burger, it looks nothing like the one in the advertisement. Still, the marketing sold you on it because someone put everything together in a way that looked beautiful on camera.
That is not to say that Her Private Hell is completely fake or has no meat to it. However, it is a much prettier-looking film than it is an engaging one. It looks and sounds far better than it ultimately feels clever or emotional. It has interesting things to say, but the experience often feels like more glitz and glamour than a genuinely deep story.
The film also relies heavily on metaphors and symbolism, and it does not always make it entirely clear what it is trying to communicate. On one hand, that constantly had me wondering what the movie was attempting to say. Even after having a few hours to sit with it, I was still chewing over many of its ideas because it is not a film that spoon-feeds the audience.
I appreciate that approach to a certain extent. On the other hand, it also feels like the filmmakers became too high on their own supply when it came to the symbolism and metaphors. At times, that makes the film feel pretentious and prevents the story from being as impactful as it could have been.
At its core, Her Private Hell is about trauma and the deadly nature of a dysfunctional family. One line repeated throughout the film regarding the Leatherman is, “Take care of your daughters. If not, he will.”
That line connects directly to the central theme. Take care of your daughters, or the world will. That could mean money, a man who wants to use her for sex, or someone who simply views her as an attractive object to keep close to him.
When looking at the world, especially an industry like Hollywood, there are countless young women who are objectified and discarded because they are considered a pretty face. Are they genuinely cared for and loved? Are they allowed to fully become who they are? Not always.
There are unfortunately many examples of young women being taken advantage of, and I think the film is making the point that people need to care for their children, particularly their daughters. Otherwise, someone terrible in the world may step in and take advantage of them.
I found that aspect of the film interesting, especially in the way it connects to the Leatherman. The movie also creates a great deal of ambiguity around what the Leatherman actually is. Is he a supernatural entity? Is he someone we have already met? Is he something that anyone can become? Can anybody be the Leatherman in another person’s story?
Those are interesting questions. Unfortunately, they are surrounded by so much symbolism, metaphor, and ambiguity that the movie eventually begins to feel like a collection of random scenes stacked on top of one another. It contains plenty of bizarre and bonkers imagery, but I was not always convinced that everything came together in a meaningful way.
By the time the film ended, I did not dislike Her Private Hell, but I would be lying if I said I thought it was great. I would also be lying if I said it was as impactful as it could have been.
I was dazzled by the film’s beauty, performances, music, sound design, occasional action, and bizarre nature. As someone who enjoys strange movies that completely commit to putting viewers inside a dreamlike world, I appreciated a lot about how this film was made, how it looks, and how it is performed.
At the same time, many of the characters feel hollow. The story often feels one-note, and the way the film presents its ideas frequently comes across as pretentious.
There are also several different acting styles throughout the movie, which creates an inconsistent experience. Sophie Thatcher, Havana Rose Liu, and Charles Melton give more grounded performances within this heightened reality. Other characters are clearly overacting. Those performances occasionally made it difficult to feel like the film was taking me on a meaningful emotional journey with these people.
I appreciate that Neon continues to support smaller and more unconventional films like this. The studio regularly gives a platform to independent filmmaking and truly bizarre ideas. However, there is still a lot about Her Private Hell that could have been better.
I can understand why the scores have been so low. It does not create a story that consistently feels meaningful, and it continually raises questions about what is happening without always providing a satisfying reason to care. There are random scenes, including moments where characters speak to one another like dogs, that left me wondering why the film was adding even more bizarre imagery when it was already filled with surreal elements that felt more connected to the story.
Too many of those scenes do not amount to much. The result is a collection of hollow characters inside a story that frequently feels pretentious.
I did not dislike Her Private Hell. There is a lot about the filmmaking, performances, score, and visual presentation that I respect. However, it is ultimately a mixed experience that looks far more beautiful than it feels meaningful.
Rating: 5/10