Seven climate scientists are invited to group therapy in Climate in Therapy. There are more than 20,000 climate scientists worldwide, and the approach to science often sees emotion as irrational. Psychotherapist Richard Beck invites seven of these scientists to join a sharing circle and share their feelings about climate change. Climate in Therapy Synopsis Climate …
Norway
The Secretary General of NATO faces a challenging final year in Facing War. Jens Stoltenberg has been the head of NATO and is read to stand down and return home to his wife in Norway. However, U.S. President Joe Biden convinces Stoltenberg to stay on for another year, as NATO has the challenge of how …
The story of Cinderella is retold as a body-horror fable about unrealistic beauty standards in The Ugly Stepsister. Elvira (Lea Myren) joins her recently married mother Rebekka (Ane Dahl Torp) and younger sister Alma (Flo Fagerli) at their new home, with Elvira quickly striking up a rapport with her new stepsister Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch …
A young Palestinian activist documents the Israeli displacement of the local villages in No Other Land. Basel Adra is a young activist living in Masafer Yatta, Palestinian West Bank. For decades, the Israeli military has been displacing the local villages, claiming that the land is meant as a training zone. With the help of sympathetic …
The story of war photographer Lee Miller is told in Lee. In 1977 at the Farleys Farmhouse, an elderly Lee Miller (Kate Winslet) talks to her son Anthony Penrose (Josh O’Connor) about her career as a photographer in World War II. The story begins in 1938 France where former model Lee is vacationing with her …
A freak electromagnetic pulse in Oslo results in the recently deceased awakening, affecting three families in Handling the Undead. On a dreary summer’s day in Oslo, a freak electromagnetic event passes through the city causing massive migraines in the living and causing the bodies of the recently deceased to awaken. This includes the son of …
The religious right’s influence on U.S. politics and the country’s relations with Israel are explored in Praying for Armageddon. In the United States, fundamentalist evangelical Christian Zionists believe that every word of the bible is literally true and that the apocalypse would start with the second coming of Jesus Chris and true believers being raptured …
A young woman unable to commit to one thing has her romantic feeling divided between two men in The Worst Person in the World. Julie (Renate Reinsve) is a young woman on the cusp of turning 30, who has juggled many career aspirations, before deciding to be an aspiring photographer, with her working at a …
A Japanese man living in Norway decides to seek out his Japanese mother in Codename: Nagasaki. Marius Lunde is a Japanese-born man, who moved to Norway as a kid and makes films together with his friend Fredrik S. Hana. Marius decides to go back and Japan and search for his birth mother, whom he hasn’t …
A refugee tells his story about how he fled Afghanistan and ended up in Denmark in Flee. Danish filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen interviews his friend Amin Nawabi about his life growing up in Afghanistan and how he had to flee with his family to escape the growing war and turmoil. Ending up in Russia, Amil …
A small-town man gets a job to be the bearer of bad news in The Middle Man. Frank Farelli (Pål Sverre Hagen) enters the town hall of Karmack to be interviewed by The Commission of The Sherrif (Paul Gross), The Doctor (Don McKellar), and The Pastor (Nicolas Bro). The job Frank is interviewing for is …
Various scientists look towards the future of Artificial Intelligence and what it means for the future of humanity in iHuman. Stephen Hawking once said that success in the creation of A.I. might end up being the biggest event in human history, though it might also be its last. A number of experts, including the “father of …
A young Finnish woman attends LARPing events to escape the traumatic events of her childhood in The Magic Life of V. Veera is a young woman from Finland, who is struggling to cope with childhood memories of her alcoholic father, while also caring for her mentally disabled brother Ville. As a means of escape, Veera …
The relationship between six guide dogs on their owners are explored in Buddy. Even though guide dogs are a necessary need of their owners, the connection that develops between the two are often deeper than any other relationship in their lives. Filmmaker Heddy Honigmann follows six guide dogs and what what they mean to their …
The population of Bricksburg have to deal with alien invaders in The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part. Five years after Taco Tuesday, repeated attacks by Duplo invaders have turned Bricksburg into “Apocalypseburg.” Despite the town now being a desolate dystopia, Emmet Brickowski (Chris Pratt) remains forever optimistic and even builds a house for himself and Wyldstyle, aka Lucy (Elizabeth Banks). …
The story of Norway’s deadliest terrorist attack is told in 22 July. On July 22, 2011, right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik (Anders Danielsen Lie) detonated a car bomb in the government district of Oslo, before opening fire at leadership camp on Utøya Island. In the aftermath of the attack, Breivik is arrested and personally requests lawyer Geir Lippestad (Jon Øigarden) …
Ethan Hunt and his IMF team faces their most impossible mission in Mission: Impossible – Fallout. Following the capture of Solomon Lane (Sean Harris), a new shadowy organization known as The Apostles have formed out of the remains of The Syndicate. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his team of Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) and Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) …
The heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe face their biggest challenge in Avengers: Infinity War. As The Avengers remain divided, following the events of Captain America: Civil War, the intergalactic tyrant Thanos (Josh Brolin) has embarked on his mission to acquire the six infinity stones, which would give him the power to eradicate half of …
The women of Greece’s controversial Golden Dawn party take centre stage in Golden Dawn Girls. Over the last number of years, the ultra-nationalistic right wing party the Golden Dawn starting gaining more support in Greece, with critics labeling the Golden Dawn as Neo-Nazis. Following the murder of anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas, many members of the Golden …
A single mother tries to turn her life around, while dealing with her addict ex-husband in Luba. Luba (Nicole Maroon) is a single mother struggling to make ends meet, while raising her six year old son Matty (Porter Schaefer). At the same time, Luba has to deal with her ex-husband Donnie (Vladimir Jon Cubrt), who …
A man gets shrunk down in the hope for a better life in Downsizing. Norwegian scientist Dr. Jorgen Asbjørnsen (Rolf Lassgård) has discovered a method to shrink the human body down to a height of only five inches, in an effort to combat overpopulation. Paul Safranek (Matt Damon) is a cash-strapped man living in Omaha, who decides …
A woman seeks vengeance against the man who molested her sister in Hevn (Revenge). Rebekka (Siren Jørgensen) arrives at an isolated hotel situated in the fjords of Western Norway. Posing as a travel reporter named Andrea, Rebekka states that she wants to interview the hotel’s manager Morten (Frode Winther) for an upcoming article. However, Rebekka has …
The worst cheerleading team in Finland is inspired to improve themselves in Cheer Up. The Arctic Circle Spirit Ice Queens are a Finnish cheerleading squad, who almost always place last in their competitions. Desperate for improvement, coach Miia travels to Dallas to receive tips from the world champions. However, it turns out the cheerleaders on …
A father and daughter bond while participating in a race across Norway in Børning. Roy (Anders Baasmo Christiansen) is a racer and mechanic, who doesn’t the closest of relationships with his 12 year old daughter Nina (Ida Husøy). After losing a big race, Roy is taunted by his rival TT (Trond Halbo), which results in a challenge …
This review was originally published as part of my coverage of Hot Docs 2015 A group of scientists simulate an encounter with extraterrestrials in The Visit: An Alien Encounter. The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs has prepared a scenario of what would be done in the event of an alien life form landing …
A group of scientists simulate an encounter with extraterrestrials in The Visit: An Alien Encounter. The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs has prepared a scenario of what would be done in the event of an alien life form landing on Earth. The audience is given the point of view of “the visitor,” as …
A split-second decision drives a wedge between a married couple in the Swedish drama Force Majeure. Tomas (Johannes Kuhnke) is on a ski trip in the French Alps, with his wife Ebba (Lisa Loven Kongsli) and two children Vera and Harry. On the second day of their trip, while having lunch at a mountain restaurant, …
Alexander is a teenage boy with autism, who has just finished school and is preparing to head out to live on his own. Following his 18th birthday, Alexander goes on a trip to Barcelona with his older brother Sebastian. As they head off to attend a game by FC Barcelona, the two brothers bond, as …
Lindevangskolen is a special needs school in Denmark, which treats kids with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Four Letters Apart – Children in the Age of ADHD follows three kids at the school, each with their own different sets of problems; Martino has a habit of acting out violently, Martine regularly has tantrums, and Victor regularly …
The classic building blocks receive their own film adaptation in The LEGO Movie. Emmet Brickowski (Chris Pratt) is an ordinary construction worker, who loves following the daily routines required for every citizen in his city. However, one night he comes across a woman named Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), who is searching for the Piece of Resistance, …
Continuing right where Napster let off, The Pirate Bay is the world’s largest file-sharing website, generating the bulk of the world’s BitTorrent traffic. While Napster was primarily targeted by the music industry, The Pirate Bay was targeted by Hollywood studios, due to the fact that the BitTorrent protocol allows for the download of large-sized files …
In Indonesia during the 1960s there was a large genocide, in which the paramilitary group in charge of the country decided to kill off anyone they accused to be a communist. The Act of Killing follows a group of people who committed these murders. They are working with the director to reenact their killings in the style of …
The Norwegian action-thriller Headhunters features a relatively simple story. Roger Brown (Aksel Hennie) is a corporate headhunter, who moonlights as an art thief. He comes across a valuable painting that seems to permanently end his financial woes, however in the aftermath of this latest theft, he finds himself (literally) hunted by the painting’s owner Clas Greve (Game of Throne‘s Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). I …
There was a question I asked myself many times while watching David Fincher’s English-language adaptation of the novel by Stieg Larsson: If I didn’t previously see (and enjoy) the original Swedish adaptation, would I have liked this film better? The answer I came up with was: probably not. I thought that Fincher’s version of the story …
In this meta-comedy, British comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon play themselves as they go on a road trip, visiting many restaurants and sites in the English countryside. Along the way Coogan pines about his stalled career, while he competes with Brydon on who can do the best Michael Caine impersonation. It bit more complex than that, …