The film follows Elisabeth, an actress dealing with the aftermath of a tragedy, as she attends a parent-teacher conference about her son's concerning behavior. Accusations and suspicion swirl around her, leading to a powerful and unforgettable breakdown scene where she confronts the absurdity of the situation with manic laughter.
the debut feature from Norwegian filmmaker Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel, we watch someone fall apart. A mother has been called into a parent-teacher conference. Her name is Elisabeth, she’s an actor of some renown, and is now largely associated with a tragedy that left her husband dead. Elisabeth has no idea why she’s been summoned to her child’s school. Soon, the parents of another student arrive. It seems that Armand, the woman’s son, threatened one of his peers.
By this point, we’ve watched Elisabeth suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous accusations, have her ability as a caregiver questioned, and endure suggestions that her spouse’s car accident may have not been so accidental. Everyone is trying to follow what passes for protocol in these types of situations, making sure their masks of social politeness are securely fastened. But not Elisabeth. She feels enraged, ambushed, attacked from all sides. It’s a death by a thousand insinuating cuts.
Then, in the middle of all this back and forth, so carefully couched in institutionally approved language and platitudes about protecting the children and performative handwringing over appropriate next steps, Elisabeth laughs. At first, it’s simply a titter. A nervous giggle. A rolling guffaw. Then the manic outbursts of amusement build and build. Everyone looks uncomfortable. Minutes pass.
It’s a credit to Renate Reinsve, who plays Elisabeth, that this real-time car wreck of a sequence instantly enters the canon of screen crack-ups. An award-winning actor who’s been on a serious roll ever since 2021’smade her an international star in a blink, she’s the animating force in a film designed to turn maternal melodrama into something simultaneously intimate and operatic.
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Psychological Drama Social Commentary Maternal Melodrama Acting Performance Norwegian Cinema
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