This year's recipient of the million kronor prize for best Nordic film at the Gothenburg Film Festival is a nicely told ensemble film in the 1990s; when every self-esteem filmmaker tried to "do a Short cuts". That is to say, based on a common starting point, an intricate weave of events affecting a whole bunch of characters, just like Robert Altman did in the said film.
Here it is a fatal accident, where a 13-year-old girl happens to have a classmate, who is the thief who causes the film's well-ordered micro universe to stumble, which causes the civilized tone and high morale to escape and people's worst sides to watch up.
It is extra peculiar when the fathers of the children involved are politicians on each side of the political spectrum.
Just as in the hilarious long film debut As You See Me (which did not go on in Swedish cinema), Norwegian filmmaker Dag Johan Haugerud has a lot on his heart. It is primarily about guilt, responsibility, parenting, but also about social media, rumor spread, school politics, political contradictions, everyday puzzles, power struggles in the classroom… yes, you see. It's like a whole mini-series stuffed into a steam movie costume. It tightens a bit here and there but still works just fine.
Just as filled with contradictory thoughts and tricky everyday problems is the life of most people. Haugerud does not pretend to have any answers, merely holds up a piece of pointed reality for the audience to reflect on.
Well, of course it smells a little Ruben Östlund. Here is the same social-psychological view of existence, the same way that the unremitting gnaws down into small everyday conflicts. Just when you think you have the whole picture ready for you comes yet another shade that deepens the conflict further.
However, without Östlund's satirical humor. This is drier, not as tight (157 min), but still really engaging.
In addition, it is extremely well played, in the least supporting role. A new favorite is Henriette Steenstrup, who plays the headmaster, a spider in the net, a woman with a need for control who is forced to see how life beats small cracks in what she thought was an orderly existence. Steenstrup's role figure carries an exciting mental contradiction, which she manages well. Fragile and powerful at the same time, not quite unlike her mother role in the entertaining youth series Ragnarök (Netflix).
Two hours and 37 minutes is no picnic, but since the script is as complex as an electrical wiring scheme, which requires its time, we will surprisingly arrive at the laconic final scene.