Best known for directing the original film version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Niels Arden Oplev teams up with another Scandi screen star, The Killing’s Sofie Grabol, for his most personal film to date. A story of two sisters, one of them schizophrenic, it’s based on his own family history and is full of feeling.

Set in the late 90s, it sees sisters Ellen (Lene Maria Christensen) and Inger (Grabol) take a bus trip to Paris. Inger is schizophrenic, a fact she announces to their fellow passengers – meeting with pity from some and outright discrimination from others, including the scornful Andreas (played by Grabol’s The Killing co-star, Soren Malling) – and normally lives in a psychiatric clinic. Ellen sees their holiday as a chance for them to bond, and to find out if Inger might be able to live more independently. Inger herself has a hidden agenda for the trip.

Eloquent on the stigmas faced by those with mental illness, Rose is also committed to honesty about the difficulty of living with profound disorders like schizophrenia. There are no easy answers in this subtle, heartfelt, funny and involving drama, which features an excellent, sensitive performance from Grabol in particular.

Director
Niels Arden Oplev

Date of release
2022

Running time
106 min

Rating
12A

Country of origin
Debmark

Language
Danish, French, German, English - English subtitles