Footage was screened at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival . Refn drew a connection between '' Only God Forgives '' and '' Drive '' , saying that " '' Only God Forgives '' is very much a continuation of that language " — " i t 's based on real emotions , but set in a heightened reality . It 's a fairy tale . " The film received a very divided response at its Cannes press screening ; it was booed by many of the audience of journalists and critics while also receiving a standing ovation . It received a polarizing response from mainstream critics : review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 40 % based on reviews from 157 critics , with a weighted average of 5.2 / 10 . The site 's consensus states : " Director Refn remains as visually stylish as ever , but '' Only God Forgives '' fails to add enough narrative smarts or relatable characters to ground its beautifully filmed depravity . " Metacritic assigns the film a weighted average rating of 37 out of 100 based on the reviews of 39 professional critics , indicating " generally unfavorable reviews "
2012 Cannes Film Festival
2012 Cannes Film Festival
Only God Forgives