Her Private Hell (2026 film)

In an eerie, futuristic city engulfed by a mysterious mist, actress Elle returns home to the Tower Hotel. She meets her new co-star Hunter, a young influencer whose travel arrangements were disrupted by the mist. Brought to stay in Elle's family's suite, the naïve Hunter is enamored with the jaded Elle's opulent life. Elle has a strained relationship with her friend-turned-stepmother Dominique, who married her lecherous father, famed filmmaker Johnny Thunders.

The women have a fitting with sinister dressmakers Ms. S and Ms. T, who prick Elle with a pin as a sign of good luck. Later, Johnny Thunders tells the women about the legend of the Leatherman, a murderous spirit with diamond-encrusted gloves, who appears with the mist and can only be killed by cutting off his hands. Elle hopes that the film she and her father are making will bring them closer together, but he soon departs after urging her to bury the hatchet with Dominique. Elle and Hunter witness the Leatherman murder a neighbor, ripping her chest open and throwing her through a window.

They continue to shoot Johnny's science fiction film, an adaptation of a comic book called Candyfloss: Elle's character crash-lands her spaceship on a crystal planet, where she is betrayed by Dominique. Hunter stops the scene to tell them of her research into the Leatherman, perceived by some as the Devil, and the Kingmakers, a pair of kitsune who help him find his destroyer. Johnny has left Elle a golden hatchet as a birthday gift, and she finds his forgotten leather jacket with a cigarette lighter belonging to Private K, an American G.I. once stationed in Japan.

Decades before, K believed the Leatherman was responsible for the disappearance of his daughter, hunting him for years. After attacking a yakuza boss and his men, K is flogged by the police as punishment. The Leatherman's kitsune, Ms. S and Ms. T, tell K that his daughter is still alive and that he must kill the Leatherman to free her. Ambushed by the yakuza, K kills them, only to be drawn through a mirror into the Leatherman's ghostly, crystalline realm, which resembles the Candyfloss set.

Celebrating Elle's birthday, Dominique brings her and Hunter to party with Johnny's rival, Nico. Dominique confides in Elle that she has slept with Nico, part of the understanding she and Johnny have about their marriage. She tries to repair her friendship with Elle, who kisses her, but Dominique gently turns her down, leading Elle to seduce Nico instead. Trapped in the other realm, K watches helplessly as Hunter is killed by the Leatherman.

Returning to the hotel, Elle gropes the sleeping Dominique and spitefully forces her underwear, which she used to wipe Nico's semen off her leg, into Dominique's mouth. A vicious argument ensues and an increasingly unhinged Elle swings the golden hatchet at Dominique. The Leatherman appears, kills Dominique, and pursues Elle into the crystal realm. There, K fights the Leatherman and is nearly defeated, but Elle chops off the Leatherman's hands with her hatchet. The Leatherman vanishes, and K is reunited with his daughter, while the kitsune offer the Leatherman's gloves to Elle with the chance to "find what [she] has lost."

• Sophie Thatcher as Elle
• Charles Melton as Private K
• Havana Rose Liu as Dominique
• Kristine Froseth as Hunter
• Shioli Kutsuna as Ms. T
• Aoi Yamada as Ms. S
• Dougray Scott as Johnny Thunders
• Diego Calva as Nico
• Hidetoshi Nishijima as Hayashi
• Parker Sawyers as Frank

After creating a pair of limited series, Too Old to Die Young for Amazon Prime Video and Copenhagen Cowboy for Netflix, Nicolas Winding Refn began work on his next feature film, his first since 2016's The Neon Demon.^[6] In an interview with Variety in August 2024, he said that he planned on shooting the film in Tokyo, with English and Japanese being the primary spoken languages of the project.^[6]

In April 2025, Neon and Refn announced the project, describing it as "something groovy", with the title Her Private Hell being revealed.^[7][6] It was financed by Neon and produced by Refn under his production company byNWR.^[8] The main cast was also announced, with Sophie Thatcher and Charles Melton in lead roles, alongside Kristine Froseth and Havana Rose Liu.^[7] Dougray Scott, Shioli Kutsuna, Diego Calva, Aoi Yamada and Hidetoshi Nishijima was also cast.^[9][10]

Principal photography took place in Copenhagen over 57 days from May to July 2025.^[8] The film was in post-production by March 2026.^[11] Pino Donaggio created the original score, marking his first collaboration with Refn.^[12]

Her Private Hell was presented out of competition at the 79th Cannes Film Festival on 18 May 2026, receiving between a 7 to 12-minute standing ovation.^[13][5] However, there were some walkouts throughout the screening, allegedly due to boredom.^[14]

It was theatrically released in the United States by Neon on 24 July 2026, with plans to be shown across 800–1,200 screens.^[15] It was ultimately shown on 675 screens.^[3] Scanbox Entertainment has scheduled the film to be released in Denmark on 15 October.^[16]

In March 2026, Mubi acquired distribution rights from Neon International for the United Kingdom and Ireland, Italy, Spain, and Latin America.^[11]