Lars von Trier dialed down his ferociousness in the mid-2000s to make a satire of neoliberalism that is, in fact, surprisingly sweet! Circling around an eager thespian who bears the brunt of a peculiar act of outsourcing, this droll, lo-fi version of the office sitcom never needs a laugh track.

Continuing his sublimely minimalist collaboration with Ryan Gosling after the sharkskin-sleek Drive, Nicolas Winding Refn returned with his most controversial feature to date. A dangerous, exoticized mash-up of spirituality, Shakespeare, and hyper-violence, Only God Forgives is a blast of pure pulp.

In between breathtaking moments of knee-jerk violence and oddly cathartic brutality, Nicolas Winding Refn delivers an unhurried and evocative allegory of a Norse warrior (Mads Mikkelsen) surviving heaven and hell in the eleventh century. A sublime, visceral journey into the depths of cruelty.