Bleeder

Released three years after PUSHER but before Refn became internationally associated with stylised violence and neon noir, BLEEDER remains one of the most intimate films either Refn or Mikkelsen ever made.

Set in the same working-class Copenhagen that would define much of Refn's early career, the film follows two parallel stories. One concerns Leo, a quiet video store employee whose relationship slowly deteriorates into fear and violence. The other follows Lenny, an awkward and lonely film obsessive searching for human connection through cinema, friendship and increasingly uncomfortable conversations about love.

Mads Mikkelsen appears here in only his second feature film role as Lenny, but much of what would later define his screen presence is already visible. The physical stillness. The awkward charm. The sense that kindness and danger are somehow occupying the same body at the same time.

Refn would go on to make DRIVE, ONLY GOD FORGIVES and THE NEON DEMON. Mikkelsen would become an international star. BLEEDER captures both men before any of that happened. For anyone curious where one of Europe's great screen partnerships began, this is where to start.