[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nicolas_winding_refn.jpg]]

Nicolas Winding Refn (born 29 September 1970) is a Danish director, screenwriter and producer known for his stylized approach to filmmaking in both conceptual (tackling existential, moral and spiritual matters, often through crime) and visual (incorporating extreme violence and high-contrast colors, often from neon lighting) senses.

Born in 1970 to parents who worked in film, Refn moved to the United States at 11. When he was 26, he rose to prominence by writing and directing the bleak and uncompromising ''Pusher'' trilogy, which became a landmark in Danish film as some of the first crime films of the nation to achieve success.

He entered the global mainstream with ''Film/Drive2011'', arguably his most well-known film.

Known in Denmark as "l'Enfant Sauvage" (French for "the wild child").
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!!Directing filmography:
* ''Film/{{Pusher}}'' (1996)
* ''Film/{{Bleeder}}'' (1999)
* ''Film/FearX'' (2003)
* ''Film/{{Pusher}} II'' (2004)
* ''Film/{{Pusher}} III'' (2005)
* ''Film/{{Bronson}}'' (2008)
* ''Film/ValhallaRising'' (2009)
* ''[[Film/Drive2011 Drive]]'' (2011)
* ''Film/OnlyGodForgives'' (2013)
* ''Film/TheNeonDemon'' (2016)
* ''Series/TooOldToDieYoung'' (2019)
* ''Series/CopenhagenCowboy'' (2023)
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!!Refn's works provide examples of:
* AssociatedComposer: Cliff Martinez has provided the score for Refn's films since ''Drive''.
* BeingEvilSucks: First used in the ''Pusher'' series, where Refn intentionally portrayed the criminal underworld as unglamorous. Many of his other films feature immoral characters suffering as a result of their character flaws and lifestyle.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: His characters tend to have very troubled backstories and upbringings.
* FanDisservice: A specialty of his. He can make very beautiful and handsome people distinctly ''unnerving'' to look at. Good examples include Gosling in both ''Drive'' and ''Only God Forgives'', Mads Mikkelsen in ''Valhalla Rising'' and Abby Lee in ''The Neon Demon''.
* FullFrontalAssault: In ''Bronson'' and ''Pusher II''.
* HeAlsoDid: This director of stylish, transgressive films also directed two episodes of ''[[Literature/MissMarple Agatha Christie's Marple]]'', the Matthew [=McConaughey=] Lincoln commercials and a series of Danish beer commercials featuring said actor.
* {{Irony}}: Despite directing ''Drive'', where he makes cars in and out of motion look incredibly cool, he has never learned to drive and failed his test multiple times.
* MindScrew: He could give Creator/DavidLynch a run for his money on this one.
* {{Motifs}}: Men making their own mythology: ''Bronson'', ''Valhalla Rising'', ''Drive'' and ''Only God Forgives''.
* ProductionPosse:
** All his Danish films have been scored by Peter Kyed and punkrocker Peter Peter.
** Since ''Drive'', he has has Cliff Martinez provide the score.
** Since working on ''Miss Marple'', Matthew Newman has been his editor.
** Morten Søborg & Larry Smith are his cinematographers of choice.
** As far as actors are concerned, he frequently casts Mads Mikkelsen (5 films), Zlatko Buric (4 films), Levino Jensen (3 films) and Gordon Brown (3 films).
* RuleOfCool[=/=]RuleOfSymbolism
* ShowDontTell: He's known for relying on the audience to infer back stories and character motivations with little, if any, concrete information or exposition.
* SignatureStyle:
** Most of his films center on violence, criminality and mythological themes. Balkan gangsters show up in several works.
** His soundtracks often include electronic music or punk rock, and he's also a notable pioneer of using '80s-throwback {{UsefulNotes/Synthwave}} music as a score.
** Refn's films usually feature heavy use of contrast and primary colors, with at least one scene bathed in a single color of light, usually red or blue. Sets bedecked in colored neon lights become increasingly prominent in his oeuvre over time. Refn does this because he is colorblind such that he cannot see midtones.
** Behind the scenes, Refn usually shoots in chronological order because it's easier for him to think the film through. In the ''Pusher'' films, it was doubly helpful because it also helped the non-actor supporting cast in their roles.
** Parental incest, whether explicit or implied, features in multiple works, usually mother/son.
* SilenceIsGolden: His films often have a heavy emphasis on silence and long stretches often play out with no music, background noise and minimal dialogue.
* SoundtrackDissonance: The music often contrasts to the events happening around it.
** ''Only God Forgives'' often sets karaoke lounge music against shocking violence.
** For ''Pusher II'', Refn consulting real Danish criminals and discovered that their taste in music was very uncool. For this reason, several scenes featuring powerful criminals have soundtracks of very lame, "eurotrashy" music.
* TheStoic: His lead characters tend to be very reserved and quiet, rarely saying more than they need to or showing their emotions.
* SunshineNoir: Many of his films feature noirish settings, graphic violence and focus on seedy antiheros, while often being set in sun-drenched surroundings.
* TranquilFury: His characters may be quiet and unemotional but that doesn't mean they don't get angry and aren't capable of some genuinely shocking displays of violence.
* ViolenceIsDisturbing: Even the violence directed at [[AssholeVictim characters who had it coming]] can be hard to enjoy on account of Refn making it as [[{{Squick}} graphic and nauseating]] as possible. ''Film/Drive2011'', ''Film/OnlyGodForgives'', and ''Film/TheNeonDemon'' are especially notorious for their violence.
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