Copenhagen Cowboy is a 2023 crime/thriller series directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and written by Refn and Sara Isabella Jonsson Vedde. Released exclusive to Netflix, the series consists of 6 episodes.
The series follows the mysterious young woman Miu. Miu is sold to Rosella, whose family is involved in sex trafficking, on the belief that Miu is a good luck charm who will help her get pregnant. Things quickly turn sour, however, leaving Miu to navigate a surreal journey through Copenhagen's underworld, with supernatural undertones.
The series stars Angela Bundalovic as Miu, frequent Refn partner Zlatko Buric as her father Miroslav and Andreas Lykke Jørgensen as Miu's nemesis Nicklas.
The series is scored by Refn's nephew Julian Winding, but also features music by Refn's regular composers Cliff Martinez, Peter Peter and Peter Kyed.
Copenhagen Cowboy provides examples of:
- Aborted Arc: The Albanian sex traffickers drop out of the series after two episodes. Several scenes establishing a romance between Andre's daughter and one of his goons ultimately go nowhere.
- Actor Allusion: The show features Zlatko Buric as an aging crime lord and Slavko Labovic as his assistant, mirroring their roles in Nicolas Winding Refn's Pusher trilogy.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Miroslav abases himself to Miu in hopes that she won't curse him.
- Alien Abduction: Miu claims to have been abducted by aliens as a child, though it's not clear if she's telling the truth. The final episode shows Miu approaching a glowing object in the forest, which is apparently a spaceship, along with the rest of what appear to be her Hive Mind. The show ends before anything is clarified regarding her origins.
- All of the Other Reindeer: All of Andre's prostitutes bully Miu except Cimona.
- Ambiguously Gay: There's some Ship Tease between Miu and Cimona, who grow close rather quickly and plan to run off together. Cimona is also referred to as a lesbian by the other girls at the brothel, although it's possible they're just being homophobic bullies. Miu's quiet stoicism and Cimona's tragic murder leave the matter unresolved.
- Animal Motifs: Pigs, which are the first thing we see in the series. Niklas's family and Mother Hulba both keep pigs. Hulba's daughter carries around a pig doll. Rosella's husband makes pig squeals when he's beaten.
- As Himself: Hideo Kojima, who is apparently the guy you call when aliens and vampires are running wild around Denmark and things are officially out of control.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Nicklas, who is initially positioned as the true threat to Miu, but gets his ass handed to him when they finally meet and winds up horribly injured and disfigured by pigs. The Big Bad baton is then passed to his sister Rakel, although the series ends just as she and Miu are likely to collide.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: The rare and coveted non-villainous variety, as Miu leaves Nicklas for dead in the pig stalls rather than finishing the job. While he winds up horribly injured, he's still a viable threat and is able to revive his sister to continue his dark work. Given that Miu has no problem killing people or committing crimes in other circumstances, it can't be chalked up to some kind of moral quandary.
- Brown Note: Rakel lets out a roar that hurts and terrifies even the mighty Miu. Nicklas does this as well in the first episode, although there are no living humans around to react to it.
- Creator Cameo: Nicolas Winding Refn appears as one of a trio of awkward businessmen who order cocaine and later get recruited to rebuild Niklas's penis.
- Defensive Feint Trap: Miu runs in apparent fear from Nicklas, leading the audience to believe she's terrified of him and is worried for her safety. Once she leads him into the pig pens, though, she turns to fight instead and obliterates him in a Curb-Stomp Battle before leaving him for the pigs.
- Emotionless Girl: Per Refn standard, Miu is mostly blank. She does show emotions like fear, tenderness and love at certain moments.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Andre seems to have some level of care for his sister and daughter. Mr. Chiang also seems to care for Ai, who turns out to be his daughter, though he also threatens her life in Miu's vision.
- Fight Clubbing: Masked men are seen engaging in some organized fist fight in the middle of Mr. Chiang's lair.
- Gainax Ending: Miu reunite with the escaped sex slaves, Rakel dresses in a red suit which is the polar opposite of Miu's, Miu stands in clearing and suddenly becomes tormented by a horrible sound while Rakel shoots beams from her eyes. Then Miroslav has a video call with Hideo Kojima, who sends him to find something he calls the Giants. It's not clear what any of this means.
- Groin Attack: Nicklas gets his unit eaten by a pig.
- Healing Hands: Miu treats Chiang this way, hovering her hands over his head to treat what are apparently intense headaches. It seems to be infinitely more effective than anything else he's tried.
- Heartbroken Badass: Chiang, who asks Miu to sleep beside her in the hopes of healing his broken heart. It seems to do the trick, but things sour quickly when it leads to an unwanted marriage proposal.
- Hidden Badass: In addition to all of her other mysterious qualities, Miu turns out to be a hell of a hand-to-hand fighter. Nicklas and Chiang both find this out the hard way.
- Hive Mind: Miu and the others she reunites with in the final episode. Complete with matching blue tracksuits!
- How We Got Here: The first scene of the series shows a woman getting strangled in a pig farm. The series then flashes back and ultimately reveals who she is and how she got there.
- If I Can't Have You…: Mr. Chiang falls in love with Miu and threatens to kill her and people she cares about if she spurns him.
- Kick the Dog: Danny seems like a decent enough guy for a drug dealer. He even takes care of a mentally ill man for unknown reasons. But when Miu asks him if he's ever killed anyone, he claims that he has and that other people are merely ants to him. This makes it a little less sad when he's almost immediately killed.
- Kill It with Fire: Miu burns down Rosella's house, with Rosella tied to the bed inside. While certainly a horrible way to die, Rosella built up a ton of Asshole Victim points leading up to it.
- Lady Looks Like a Dude: Multiple characters note that Miu "looks like a boy," presumably due to her short hair and gender-neutral clothing.
- Lady Luck: Many characters believe Miu to be a living lucky charm.
- Leave the Camera Running: Several shots drag out for several minutes.
- Limited Wardrobe: Miu is almost always seen wearing the same sky-blue tracksuit with the collar zipped up to her chin. She has matching shoes and a matching overcoat that she wears occasionally.
- Magic Realism: Magical elements are woven into mundane underworld events and treated as simply a part of the world. Refn and the other creators wanted to evoke the feeling of a fairy tale, albeit a very dark one. Refn usually plays with the audience via Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane, but there's really no way to provide a realistic explanation (however implausible) for some of the things we see.
- Married to the Job: Miroslav is seen sleeping in his office twice. It's not clear if he ever leaves.
- Mickey Mousing: When Miu and Mr. Chiang fight, the soundtrack plays musical stings for every blow thrown.
- Model Scam: André uses this trick to lure girls to his brothel before turning them into prostitutes, using the threat of violence and/or their lack of documentation to keep them in line.
- Mysterious Past: Miu's past is mostly left unclear. Miu mentions being sold at some point and has a frosty relationship with her father, but the circumstances of this is left unclear. Even Miu has trouble remembering her past.
- No Ending: The show ends without resolution, just as the action seems to be reaching its apex, leaving the audience to ponder the show's many mysteries for themselves.
- Non-Indicative Name: It's not clear what "Copenhagen Cowboy" refers to.
- Notorious Parent: Miu's father is a crime lord.
- Pet the Dog: Danny delivers food to a mentally ill shut-in who is apparently his friend. This scene seems to serve no other function than to show that Danny is a decent guy.
- Pig Man: Sven, who makes literal pig noises when beaten, and if you had to choose an animal to compare him to, a pig would be atop the list.
- Rape as Drama: Sven frequently sleeps with the girls of the brothel against their will, taking cruel advantage of the leverage he has. Andre ends up charging him whenever he finds out. Really, this applies to all of the women at the brothel, as they were lured there under false pretenses and are kept captive under fear of death, as opposed to being voluntary sex workers making an informed choice.
- Signature Style: The series as a whole should seem very familiar to Refn fans:
- Sets saturated in red and/or blue neon light.
- Stoic and almost inscrutable characters.
- Slow pacing, with lots of time spent on gazing at characters in striking poses.
- A cold, aggressive soundtrack.
- Balkan gangsters in Copenhagen.
- Mother/son incest.
- Silence Is Golden: As is standard for Refn, many scenes have long stretches without dialogue, often with characters simply striking a pose while the soundtrack blares.
- Telepathy: Miu views some of Chiang's memories this way while using her Healing Hands to treat him.
- Trapped on the Astral Plane: Nicklas' sister Rakel, although she is summoned back to the material world by her family in the fifth episode as Nicklas is too injured to fight effectively.
- Undying Loyalty: Aske, to Nicklas and his family. Possibly literally.
- Vampires Sleep in Coffins: Nicklas' sister Rakel does this.
- Waif-Fu: Miu's small stature is repeatedly noted by other characters. She also proves to be an extremely capable fighter.
- The Worf Effect: At Mr. Chiang's hideout, one man knocks another man out in a fight. Mr. Chiang then takes off his shirt and demolishes the winner.
