Bornedal fashions a satisfying and stylishly shot thriller-romance out of material both familiar and unlikely.
When forensic photographer Jonas is involved in a car-crash he meets badly injured Julia, and falls for her instantly. In a scene that stretches credulity, Julia's family take him for Sebastian, Julia's lover met on a tour of Southeast Asia. Jonas plays along, and the drama is stretched when Julia awakes from her coma conveniently blind and afflicted with amnesia. Julia, the impressive Rebecka Hemse, starts to remember a less-than-rosy side to the affair with Sebastian...
The strengths of the film are the acting by the main players and the all-too-human interaction between them. When Jonas confesses to his friend that he has fallen for Julia, his friend, in a quite startling moment, asks if he can have Jonas' wife. When Sebastian does finally show up, a quite chilling dinner scene enfolds.
The thriller elements are where the film is weakest, with far too many of the plot devices forced through. Sebastian (Nikolaj Lie Kaas clearly channeling Billy Zane in Dead Calm) stalks the hospital in a wheelchair and bandages, looking like an extra from The Mummy. The disguise is elaborate to say the least, considering the people he is hiding from do not know what he looks like. At a quite crucial moment when Sebastian is at his most threatening, Anders inexplicably opts to go for a drive, leaving Julia alone with her own personal monster. It is a clunky set up for Anders to make a horrific discovery in the boot of the car, and Sebastian to begin the final phase of his plan for Julia.
But while the thriller element is less than convincing, there is a wonderfully observed nuanced romance here. Not Anders and Julia, but Anders and his wife Mette. Charlotte Fich is superb as the discarded spouse. The moment when Anders comes clean, during a supermarket excursion, is a delicious mix of comedy and tragedy. The film's over-elaborate opening set-up is some what ameliorated by ending on the failed marriage storyline. Anders strays, Anders comes home, Anders gets his comeuppance. That simple thread alone makes this film worth watching.
When forensic photographer Jonas is involved in a car-crash he meets badly injured Julia, and falls for her instantly. In a scene that stretches credulity, Julia's family take him for Sebastian, Julia's lover met on a tour of Southeast Asia. Jonas plays along, and the drama is stretched when Julia awakes from her coma conveniently blind and afflicted with amnesia. Julia, the impressive Rebecka Hemse, starts to remember a less-than-rosy side to the affair with Sebastian...
The strengths of the film are the acting by the main players and the all-too-human interaction between them. When Jonas confesses to his friend that he has fallen for Julia, his friend, in a quite startling moment, asks if he can have Jonas' wife. When Sebastian does finally show up, a quite chilling dinner scene enfolds.
The thriller elements are where the film is weakest, with far too many of the plot devices forced through. Sebastian (Nikolaj Lie Kaas clearly channeling Billy Zane in Dead Calm) stalks the hospital in a wheelchair and bandages, looking like an extra from The Mummy. The disguise is elaborate to say the least, considering the people he is hiding from do not know what he looks like. At a quite crucial moment when Sebastian is at his most threatening, Anders inexplicably opts to go for a drive, leaving Julia alone with her own personal monster. It is a clunky set up for Anders to make a horrific discovery in the boot of the car, and Sebastian to begin the final phase of his plan for Julia.
But while the thriller element is less than convincing, there is a wonderfully observed nuanced romance here. Not Anders and Julia, but Anders and his wife Mette. Charlotte Fich is superb as the discarded spouse. The moment when Anders comes clean, during a supermarket excursion, is a delicious mix of comedy and tragedy. The film's over-elaborate opening set-up is some what ameliorated by ending on the failed marriage storyline. Anders strays, Anders comes home, Anders gets his comeuppance. That simple thread alone makes this film worth watching.