The new film is a far cry from his 2000 feature, harrowing heroin-addiction nightmare Requiem For a Dream.
Nor is it like his other cult-status work, 2010 ballerina body-horror Black Swan.
Like all his films though, this one makes makes you squirm and if you are a bit squeamish, especially about violence — cover your eyes, like I did.
My eyes were wide open for the movie’s lead, Austin Butler, however, who also made Dune: Part Two so fantastic.
His love interest in the film is the equally as genetically blessed, Zoe Kravitz.
The film starts as a ’90s throwback brightly coloured romp, set in the subways, dive bars and apartment buildings of Mayor Rudy Giuliani-era New York City.
But it quickly turns into a The Big Lebowski-esque caper, in which Austin Butler’s shirtless, unwitting ‘‘dude’’ gets drawn into a dangerous plot.
His next-door neighbour, an exaggerated British punk drug dealer played by Matt Smith, leaves him to look after his cat, stolen money and warring gangsters.
The villains are two unblinkingly violent Russian henchmen and their boss, played by Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny — wearing a ginger wig and fake freckles.
Regina King plays a cop with a strong New York accent who warns Butler’s character about the even more deadly heavies, two Hasidic Jewish men who are also after the money.
The movie uses wry and ironic humour to face its overarching message: to face your fears, trauma and guilt — with a thousand punches in the nose along the way.
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