Dear God. This ^^ is the new (and first?) poster for Ryan Gosling’s film Only God Forgives. So, um, obviously this is the kind of film where Ryan is not playing “pretty”. He is not going to make his Hey Girls swoon and sigh with his physical perfection and his “aw shucks” humanity. He is going to get his ass kicked, and kick some ass. I feel like this is probably a full-on “boy movie” – Gosling reunited with his Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn for the film that seems like a really strange story. I just read a summary of it at The Mail (summary below) and I can’t believe that I never paid attention to what this weird film is actually about. Gosling plays a character who goes to Bangkok to fight the Thai policeman who killed his brother? Is that really the plot?

His chiselled good looks and buff physique have earned him an army of fans across the globe. But a disturbing new teaser poster from Ryan Gosling’s upcoming movie, Only God Forgives, will no doubt have women the world over more than a little concerned that the handsome chap they know and love has gone forever.

With his face transformed into a beaten and bloodied mess, the 32-year-old actor is virtually unrecognisable thanks to his swollen and distorted features. However, fans – and Ryan’s girlfriend Eva Mendes – are likely to be thrilled that the Hollywood hunk’s terrifying-looking injuries were merely in the name of his art.

In Only God Forgives, the star portrays ex-boxer-turned-gangster Julian, who fights a Bangkok police lieutenant to avenge the death of his brother.

Kristin Scott Thomas plays the mobster’s mother Jenna, who forces him to find and kill the person responsible for his sibling’s death. Ryan is said to have undergone strenuous Muay Thai boxing training for the role, with make-up giving him a helping hand with what appeared to be a prosthetic swollen nose.The actor stars alongside Kristin Scott Thomas in the crime thriller, which was shot on location in Thailand.

Ryan has previously admitted the upcoming movie is ‘the strangest thing I’ve ever read and it’s only going to get stranger.’

Written and directed by Nicolas Winding Refn – who worked with Ryan on Drive – the film is scheduled for relase in March 2013. In addition to Only God Forgives, the actor also has Gangster Squad set to hit the big screen early next year.

[From The Mail]

My dad used to watch movies with those kinds of plot lines. And you know what? They were inevitably Steven Seagal or Jean-Claude Van Damme movies. I’m just saying… I have a lot of faith in Refn, but this doesn’t seem like the kind of movie that women are going to run to see. Oh… I just saw something else about the plot: Gosling’s character “runs a Thai boxing club as a front for the family’s drugs smuggling operation. When Julian’s brother Billy is killed their mother, Jenna (Kristen Scott Thomas), arrives in the city. She wants revenge and forces Julian to find the killer. Julian’s contacts in the criminal underworld lead him directly to The Angel of Vengeance, a retired police officer who knows everything and who is both Judge and Punisher. Jenna demands that Julian kill The Angel of Vengeance, an act that will cost him dearly.” Yeah. This is a Steven Seagal movie, only fancy and artsy.

Incidentally, LaineyGossip said yesterday that there were rumors that Gosling and Eva Mendes were on a break or something, but Lainey says it’s BS, and they’re still together.

Some more stills from Only God Forgives:

Photos courtesy of Heatworld.