Refn debuts new film 'Her Private Hell' at Cannes
May 20, 2026
Cannes [France], May 20: Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn returned to the Cannes Film Festival 15 years after his breakthrough hit "Drive" with dark new fable shaped by what he described as the hidden narratives driving modern media consumption.
"I love the idea of juxtapositions of narratives," he told Reuters, recalling how he loved flicking between TV channels as a child because it allowed him to go between worlds - an experience now echoed with social media's endless scroll.
"The algorithm essentially creates an internal narrative that you're unconscious of, because it feeds what your emotions react to," he said.
"All that is becoming very interesting in terms of what is cinema. Because is cinema really just deep down an experience that we just chase?"
"All of that combined is . what 'Her Private Hell' is."
Refn first came to Cannes in 2011 with "Drive," starring Ryan Gosling as a getaway driver, which won him the best director prize and established his reputation in arthouse cinema.
He followed up with another Gosling-led thriller, "Only God Forgives," and fashion-world horror "The Neon Demon," before turning to television.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Cooperation
