Copenhagen Cowboy: Nicolas Winding Refn's Bizarre Netflix Crime Drama Divides Audiences
Copenhagen Cowboy: A Surreal Crime Saga That’s Not for Everyone
Netflix’s latest crime series, Copenhagen Cowboy, is the most polarizing release of 2023 — and that’s exactly what its creator, Nicolas Winding Refn, intended. The six-episode saga follows a mysterious young woman who navigates Copenhagen’s criminal underworld with supernatural abilities, blending arthouse visuals with brutal violence. Early reviews are split: some hail it as a masterpiece of slow-burn storytelling, while others call it unwatchably strange.
Key Facts
- Creator: Nicolas Winding Refn (known for Drive, Pusher trilogy)
- Release: January 2023 on Netflix
- Runtime: Six episodes, roughly 45–60 minutes each
- Genre: Crime thriller with surrealist and supernatural elements
Critical Reaction: Love It or Hate It
“Refn has never been a crowd-pleaser, but Copenhagen Cowboy takes his signature style to an extreme,” says film critic Erik Petersen of Nordic Film Review. “The pacing is glacial, the dialogue sparse, and the neon-soaked imagery is hypnotic. It’s a sensory experiment that rewards patient viewers.”
Cinema professor Helena Borg from the University of Copenhagen adds: “This is Refn at his most uncompromising. The series demands you surrender to its rhythm — if you refuse, you’ll be bored senseless.” In online forums, fans have compared it to David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return, while detractors call it “self-indulgent nonsense.”
Background
Nicolas Winding Refn built his reputation on gritty, kinetic crime films like the Pusher trilogy and the cult hit Drive. After 2016, he shifted toward slower, more experimental projects, including the 13-hour Amazon miniseries Too Old to Die Young. Copenhagen Cowboy arrives as a midpoint: it retains Refn’s obsession with neon lights, brooding antiheroes, and long, meditative takes — but injects a surreal plot revolving around a female protagonist with psychic powers. The series was originally developed as a TV project before Netflix picked it up for a global release.
What This Means
For longtime Refn fans, Copenhagen Cowboy feels like a return to his Danish roots — a grounded underworld story twisted through his current experimental lens. For newcomers, it may serve as a litmus test: if you can endure the deliberate pacing and bizarre detours, you’ll discover one of the most unique crime series in years. The polarizing reception also highlights Netflix’s willingness to fund risky, auteur-driven content, even if it alienates mainstream audiences.
As streaming platforms chase broad appeal, Copenhagen Cowboy stands as a defiant outlier. Whether it becomes a cult classic or a footnote in Refn’s career depends entirely on how many viewers are willing to surrender to its strange, slow-burn spell.
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