Nicolas Winding Refn, the Danish director renowned for visceral works like Drive, Bronson, and The Neon Demon, recently shared the harrowing story of a 2023 medical emergency that nearly ended his career. While known for portraying intense violence on screen, Refn experienced a real-life medical crisis when he was diagnosed with a failing heart valve that was causing blood to pool in his lungs. The experience of nearly dying at age 50 proved to be a catalyst for his latest project, the sci-fi horror film Her Private Hell.
The ordeal began in the summer of 2023 during a shoot for a Prada campaign in Italy. Refn struggled with exhaustion, a symptom he initially attributed to the rigors of his work until a medical evaluation back in Copenhagen confirmed his condition was life-threatening. Facing the prospect of open-heart surgery, the director was tasked with writing his will and reconciling with his mortality. He described the period as a profound existential low, comparing his lost creative drive to fading memories, much like the famous lines from Blade Runner.
Remarkably, Refn requested to film his own operation. While hospital staff initially denied the request, they eventually permitted the recording. Before the procedure, he experienced a pivotal moment during a consultation with a surgeon he described as the “Tom Cruise of surgeons”—a charismatic motorcyclist whose confidence provided a glimmer of hope. This surgeon performed a specialized telescopic procedure that spared Refn from traditional open-heart surgery, an outcome the filmmaker views as a divine intervention.
The recovery process was demanding, requiring three months of intense rehabilitation as he rebuilt his strength. During this time, Refn felt he had been “killed and brought back,” a transformative experience that restored his desire to create. He claims that every day since the operation has been a gift, fueling his resolve to spend the next 25 years making art.
This renewed perspective is channeled directly into Her Private Hell. The film, which features a dream-like mix of sci-fi, horror, and spoof, stars Sophie Thatcher as Elle, an actor attempting to bridge the distance between herself and her mogul father through the lens of a Barbarella-inspired project. The narrative explores the protective bond between parents and children, drawing inspiration from Refn’s own experience as a father to his daughters, Lola and Lizzielou.
The film includes an American GI character named Private K, played by Charles Melton, who searches for a lost daughter in postwar Japan. Refn notes that this character arc emerged from his reflections on his children growing up. Throughout the movie, Refn employs signature elements like long silences and specific lighting, alongside campy aesthetics—such as the character Johnny Thunders, who sports leather trousers and unique grooming habits.
Refn characterizes his creative process as “playing with dolls,” noting his deep appreciation for flamboyance, color, and femininity rather than traditional masculine archetypes. While some might interpret his film’s themes through a political lens, Refn maintains that his focus remains on artistic exploration rather than ideology. For the director, who started his career as an intense young filmmaker during the production of the gritty Danish drama Pusher, this rebirth marks a return to his core purpose, viewing his survival as the foundation for his future cinematic work. The report also notes that showing me one of the goriest scenes he’s ever been involved in, n icolas Winding Refn has his phone out. The report also notes that eyeballs being gouged out and a son reaching deep inside his mother’s womb, that’s certainly saying something, given that the Danish director’s movies have involved hands getting sliced off. The report also notes that the camera is fixed upon a beating heart when suddenly – slash! – it gets sliced open with a knife, in this video. The report also notes that as needles arrive to pierce through the muscle, we travel into the open chamber. The report also notes that could this be a future Palme d’Or winner, unsettling and compelling. The report also notes that you see, Refn isn’t the director of this footage; he’s actually the guy lying conked out in the operating room while a surgeon attends to him. The report also notes that drinking espressos and wearing a smart blue polo shirt under a skinny suit, Refn is here to talk about his latest movie, Her Private Hell, a ludicrously camp dream-collage of sci-fi, horror, spoof and revenge set in neon-lit Tokyo, sitting in a swanky London hotel bar. The report also notes that he recounts – with precious little interruption from me – the story of the 2023 operation that saved his life, but for the first 40 minutes of our chat.
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