AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Nigel P This solemn Norwegian gem features Anna (Noomi Rapace) who has been relocated to a flat following an incident with her abusive husband and father of eight year old Anders (Vetle Qvenild Werring). She exists in a constant state of neurosis and is monitored by two Child Welfare Officers. To relieve her worry that somehow her husband will find them and inflict further harm, she buys a baby monitor so she can listen to her son even when he is in another room. Sometimes, she hears the sounds of a child being beaten on the monitor, but Anders is sleeping soundly … so where do these sounds come from? She befriends shy Helge (Kristoffer Joner), whose mother is on a life-support machine in hospital, and they begin a fragile relationship. And yet the disturbing incidents continue; the male welfare officer Ole takes an unprofessional interest in Anna, and the woman she believes she has heard on the monitor appears to drown her son at the picturesque nearby lake Anna often visits to relax. Anna dives into the water to rescue the boy. The next thing she knows, she is in hospital.Anders invites a friend round, but we don't get to know his name. The two lads share a kinship, and it appears the friend has been beaten by his mother. Whilst joining Anna for supper one evening, Helge meets the nameless boy and assumes it to be Anders, whom he hasn't met. He sees bruises on the boy's arm and assumes Anna has been beating him.The final straw in Anna's punishing ordeal is when Ole tells her that Anders' father has gained custody of the youngster. She stabs Ole with the kitchen scissors, takes Anders and leads him to the open window, high above ground level. Helge bursts into the flat, past the bloody body of what actually turns out to be the caretaker, and gets to the bedroom just in time to see Anna and her son plummet to the ground below.Only Anna's body is found. It transpires Anders died two years ago, and so did his abusive father. Everything else we have seen was a mixture of the truth and the product of Anna's ruined mind.Poor Helge. An honest, decent man who witnesses it all, and loses first his mother, and then Anna. As he reads a final child's poem to Anna by her death bed, we see visions of her and Anders strolling through a summer's forest and sitting by the lake, happier than we've ever seen them. This is either a flashback to glad times, or a snapshot of where the tragic blighters are now; somewhere better.This is a tremendous, bleak, intimate film that packs a punch with some very intense acting and a haunting incidental score.

leplatypus In short, it's still about a single mother that arrives in a oppressive block apartment with her young child and they have to face paranormal events.Well, first of all, Norway isn't NYC. It's bare, remote, close to nature and the few habitants have a big space to live. So as it's a bit empty, the oppression goes up. I say it's Norway and not Sweden as the school looks decrepit. This emptiness, poverty is omnipresent in the movie as the family gets into their apartment without anything. It's a sort of vacation (because during this time, we leave all our comfort, dressing, equipment,...) except, for them, everyday is like this. Thus, the scenes inside the apartment have a special appeal because they are really cut of everything. In addition, the block is austere, dead calm and it's hard to tell the difference from a hospital or a prison. If a lot of French live like this (it's social urbanism), I have never experienced this and in a way, i feel really attracted by that.So, all the background was there for the break of paranormal. It's difficult to explain the story (a bit like "Lost Highway"), as I understand that 2 facts meet: the ghost of a abused child and the vision of the mother. It's hard to tell "the" reality from her "reality". As the movie gives clues at the end, you can enjoy a second watching.The cast is excellent: the shy, supportive friend is totally accurate as I behaved the same when i got invited by a single mum living in a block: arrival with flowers and a gift for the kid (for my constant reader, we went also to a movie after and that's why my list of "Best Movie of the Year after my birth" ranks for 2006, "Ice Age 2" with my comment: "best seance ever").As for Noomi, she proves once again that she is the definitive best actress nowadays. Unlike a lot of her pals, she isn't superficial, just a look (or a name) as you can feel her mind and feelings. She is also hard to catch as she can be as fragile as resilient, as dumb as resourceful and as cold as warm. An excellent movie to recommend which is the perfect proof that movies talent can be found everywhere (and not only in America!) and that a good movie doesn't mean big money, big effects, big sequels,...

JvH48 I saw this film as part of the Imagine film festival (SF/fantasy/horror) Amsterdam 2012. The festival website labeled it as "horror", but I rather concur with the mixed "horror/thriller" label we see on IMDb. We cannot help feeling sympathy with the mother (Anna) and her son (Anders), just having moved to a hiding place where her husband resp. his father cannot find them. We are told this is because of prior domestic violence towards the son. It is the main reason for buying and installing a baby monitor in the son's bedroom. Since he is 11, he would not need such supervision in normal circumstances.Apart from that, we see what initially looks like a sub-plot, in the form of a flirtation with the salesman (Helge) in the home electronics shop where the baby monitor is bought. The relationship strengthens later on when Anna hears alarming sounds out of the newly installed device, and seeks his advice as it is not coming from Anders' room. Helge explains that the signal can be picked up from a similar device in the neighborhood. Given that Helge is the only one taking her story seriously, and Anna feels all alone with her situation, it can be no surprise that she asks for his help. And Helge, also feeling alone, is very eager to offer some assistance.Anna stumbles on a nearby lake, where she observes disturbing things happening on the opposite side. What she sees, obviously reminds her of her own reasons to run away from her husband. After rushing through the woods to find the place where it happened, there are no visible traces of something out of the ordinary. On later occasions Anna completely fails to find the lake again, as if it never existed in the first place. We are as confused as Anna is, since several landmarks we saw before along the path to the lake, are still on their original spot and look undisturbed.All in all, though a few scenes could be improved by shortening some parts, I saw an entertaining mix of what was real and what only existed in Anna's mind. After a while we think we are sure what's real and what's not, given what is presented to us by the scenario writers. Acting is very good, so we are easily convinced by what we see.However, one of the final scenes shows aforementioned lake again, after we saw with our own eyes that Anna could not find it anymore. It unexpectedly confronts us with a completely different view on the matter (no details, to prevent spoilers). In hindsight, I could remember no pointers that we may have been misled by what we had seen on screen. In other words, this was really a surprise for me, but of course, I may have missed some clues. Yet I think this should not happen in a "thriller" type of film. Some cleverly planted clues with hints that there might be more to it than what we saw, certainly would have improved our viewer experience.

OJT This is the tag-line of much awaited new film from Pål Sletaune (behind the great films "Naboer", "Amatørene" and "Budbringeren") is starring Noomi Rapace and Kristoffer Joner. Seven years since "naboer" or in English "next door", we get a film with similar ideas - a look into disturbed or distorted minds.Single mother Anna moves with her 8 year old son to a big flat with secret address outside Oslo to get away from her violent husband. Anna is scared stiff that they will be found, and is under heavy watch by a couple of child care workers. She get's the idea of buying a baby call so that her son doesn't have to sleep in her bed, only to find that the baby call picks up another troubled child somewhere in the flat. Anna is really on the edge, and maybe her imagination is playing her as well!?This psychological thriller goes under your skin in the sympathy for Anna and the other troubled minds in this film. You want her to relax, but still understand how difficult it is when you trust no one.Really great play by Rapace. She gets under your skin. The film is slow paced in a couple of periods, only to speed up at times, just as real life would be in such a situation. The film is not like you think it will be, so this is not your standard thriller. I still think I'd like another ending to this, though maybe not happy...Well Sletaune can put another great film under his belt. Always worthwhile and interesting to get sucked into his stories. Well done!