Jordyep

8/10

This is so much better than Ostlund's more recent work! It's a film about gender roles and the ripple effects of distrust within a marriage. The writing is clever, dramatically interesting, and has all the Ostlund staples that would go on to define his style from here. There's little to no handholding for the audience, he instead prefers to let scenes play out in a long wide shot and let his actors and dialogue do the work. It feels more like you're an observer of these flawed characters with Ostlund together, rather than being told a story. It's a style that'll inevitably lead to a lot of people calling it boring, but if you know how to read human behaviour and cinema, it's anything but of course. The dark comedy is well executed, not leaning as much on satire as his work after this. I kinda wish he sometimes pushed the story to more interesting places, though. For example, the film flirts with this idea that the husband might cheat on his wife, but that doesn't go anywhere ultimately and it's just reduced to this brief comedic scene. Still, I like what he's going for thematically and the film wraps up in a way that respects the subtlety of the film that came before it. Technically the film's pretty excellent. The cinematography is great, I think it looks much better than _The Square_ and _Triangle of Sadness_ (although its location does a lot of the work). However, the minimal editing style doesn't always lead to the most concise version of scenes, and the film feels slightly overlong as a result. There's also this brief scene where Ostlund takes the David Fincher _Social Network_ route of mixing sound, meaning music is favoured instead of hearing the dialogue. It's kind of a shame because the dialogue is so much more interesting than the tacky EDM that's playing in the foreground. 7.5/10

CinemaSerf

0/10

Tomas" (Johannes Kuhnke), wife "Ebba" (Lisa Loven Kongsli) and the kids "Vera" (Clara Wettergren) and "Harry" (Vincent Wettergren) travel to the French Alps for a skiing holiday. The first thing you might notice from the initial photography is just how precariously positioned their resort is, and just how seriously the local authorities take the risk of avalanches. It is one of those snowy phenomena that causes a stir amongst this ostensibly loving family. It, itself, isn't especially perilous but with the snow heading towards them "Tomas" does something that his wife really struggles to come to terms with. As they attempt to continue with their holiday, the tension between them becomes unbearable for each, for their children and for their friends "Mats" (Kristofer Hivyu) and "Charlotte" (Karin Myrenberg Faber) who is, herself, having quite a bit of off-piste fun to the chagrin of "Ebba". It's quite an intriguing premiss, this one, as it asserts then questions some stereotyping about the roles of the characters. It challenges the more traditional "hunter/gatherer" responsibility "Tomas" is supposed to have whilst also demonstrating what I found to be a degree of cruelty from "Ebba" that seemed way more destructive than she probably intended and the ultimate aim of which wasn't remotely productive. The denouement will probably divide opinion, and to some extent it offers a degree of vindication but essentially it asks us to rationalise the concept of panic (using hindsight) - and that's the thought it provoked most from me as the couple have to come to terms with something inexplicable and intangible. The acting is fine, as is the writing and there are some beautiful snowscapes that will either appeal to or deter would-be skiers, but the story is definitely not one that's straightforward.

Reno

0/10

> Family defines unity, in whatever circumstances. A Swedish dark comedy film, about a family and their vacation on the French Alps. It is not my favourite flick, but liked it a lot because of the refreshing theme. A satisfiable storytelling with the beautiful visuals of white planet. It does not feel like a dark comedy, I had some good laughs, I mean the louder ones. I was surprised how cleverly the phases changed in the narration. Starts off like a normal family on the trip, but slowly reveals their hidden natures of the individuals. Sometimes, vacations are not to relax, it will change the course of your life. What we do, how we behave and presence of mind are the key factors. Being a member of a family requires extra alter, especially if you are a man of the family. It was just a brief story that was divided into five episodes and each covers one whole day event of the family that spends. Each day was different than the others. All the good, the bad and the weird days sliced into the happy, emotional and embarrassing incidents of the day. Most of the story is a debate over the matter that happened in the earlier part. How a happy middle class family affected and progressing to be a dysfunctional was told in the later parts. The scenes take place either in the resort or in the skiing expedition. A couple of other characters join the family and makes much more interesting developments. There were some unwanted scenes, but it quite gives the vacation atmosphere. > "I spent two years in therapy... And it did not do a damn thing. > Then I screamed for five minutes and felt a hell of a lot better." Whenever I thought it almost concluded, the new twists approached. The last quarter makes this film special for giving an unexpected decent solution. But all the laugh riot is in the opening half. I will be happy if the family returns for a sequel that set somewhere on the other continent. Not without the character Mats, because I liked that role. Better to say the red-beard-man inside that character was awesome. It was a small appearance, but so good. After seeing this film, I think, definitely men would be cautious for the similar kind of situation in their lives. It is a lesson to learn without being in the actual scene. Enjoyable flick, and again not for everyone due to the sluggish pace. 8/10