Copenhagen Cowboy has Nicolas Winding Refn’s neon fingerprints all over it. Netflix has released a new trailer for six-episode series, which premieres January 5, 2023, and it has all the hallmarks of a Winding Refn production. The auteur behind Drive and The Neon Demon previously teased that he was “returning to my past to shape my future” with the new show, which is his first production in his native Denmark in 15 years, according to Deadline.
“The neon-drenched noir series follows enigmatic young heroine, Miu (Angela Bundalovic). After a lifetime of servitude and on the verge of a new beginning, she traverses the ominous landscape of Copenhagen’s criminal netherworld,” reads a synopsis of the series. “Searching for justice and enacting vengeance, she encounters her nemesis, Rakel (Lola Corfixen), as they embark on an odyssey through the natural and the supernatural. The past ultimately transforms and defines their future, as the two women discover they are not alone, they are many.”
Mia is unmistakable in the trailer, given her distinctive Winding Refn character design (this time around, it’s a blue tracksuit and glittery makeup). But she’s a mystery–even a “ghost”—to the people around her. “She’s not the girl she pretends to be. She doesn’t bring luck,” says one character in voiceover, while another describes her as “a real devil.”
Copenhagen Cowboy also stars Zlatko Buric, Andreas Lykke Jørgensen, Jason Hendil-Forssell, LiIi Zhang and Dragana Milutinovic. On board as writers are Sara Isabella Jönsson, Johanne Algren and Mona Masri. Creator and director Winding Refn is joined by award winning cinematographer Magnus Nordenhof Jønck (A War). And for those of you on “nepo baby” watch, the series marks the first collaboration between Winding Refn and his daughter, Corfixen, who plays one of the leading roles. The past really is defining the future with this project.