Her Private Hell (2026)
Directed by: Nicolas Winding Refn
Premise: Set in a surrealistic world, three women reconcile their relationship to a man and are haunted by tales of a serial killer.
What Works: Between Drive and The Neon Demon, filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn has gradually turned toward surrealism. Her Private Hell is set within a fluorescent-colored fantasy world that is detached from reality. The technical aspects of the movie are impeccable. Her Private Hell has interesting use of colors and shadows. The whole picture has a dreamlike quality which suits its fairytale elements. The film is not subtle about this. Early scenes make references to Hans Christian Andersen and the story echoes the “Little Red Riding Hood” and “Cinderella.” Her Private Hell is primarily about the relationship between three women played by Sophie Thatcher, Havana Rose Liu, and Kristine Froseth. Although they are all around the same age, Liu plays the stepmother of Thatcher’s character. Much like The Neon Demon, Her Private Hell is about the relationships between women and how those relationships are shaped by the desire to win men’s affection and approval. That’s the strongest aspect of the movie and Her Private Hell is most interesting as a portrait of women living in a hostile world.
What Doesn’t: The story and the characters get buried under the film’s style. Much like David Lynch, filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn creates an onscreen world that probably makes sense to him but without much concern if it makes sense to anyone else. That’s not necessarily a flaw. A lot of surrealistic work operates this way. But the surrealism of Her Private Hell is in service of bland observations about life. The underlying story and themes of Her Private Hell is really a reiteration of the gender politics seen in 1970s and 80s horror films; 1977’s Suspiria is an obvious influence. Refn keeps the viewer on the outside. The film doesn’t give us enough information to orient ourselves in this world. Her Private Hell is not logically accessible but it’s not very emotionally accessible either. Despite the extreme style, most everything about Her Private Hell is emotionally muted. That’s pertinent to the film’s point; Her Private Hell is partly about the performative aspects of women’s lives, especially in their relations to men, but the viewing experience is tedious. The weakest element of Her Private Hell is the subplot involving a man (Charles Melton) searching for his daughter. In the fairytale language of the film, he is the Woodsman of “Red Riding Hood” but his story is disconnected from the rest of the movie.
Bottom Line: Her Private Hell is beautifully crafted but the whole is less than the sum of its parts. It’s a film that tests our attention and patience for purposes that are trite and opaque.
Episode: #1109 (July 26, 2026)