Content warning: suicide, torture (in photographs)Nora (Renate Reinsve) is a working theater actress estranged from her father, Gustav Borg (Stellan Skarsgård), a famous director. Gustave approaches her about starring in his new narrative feature, but she refuses, so he hires American Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning) for the part instead. Rachel is initially game to be taken more seriously as an actress but soon grows more and more convinced that Gustav doesn't really want her for the role, which is ostensibly about Gustav's mother, Karin (Vilde Søyland), a member of the Norwegian Resistance, but which Rachel realizes is actually about Gustav's relationship with Nora.
I don't know if I can describe how this movie made me feel but it did make me feel. Everybody in it is phenomenal. It's so quiet and so deeply emotional. It could have felt sluggish or melodramatic but it never does. It's my third favorite Best Picture nominee. Someone in Movie Club said that they didn't want it to win because it deserves to find its own audience and not be constantly compared to other Best Picture winners, and I agree. Would not be mad if it got Best International Feature, though. It's so hard because Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas is so good as Agnes and she deserves all the accolades, but Fanning blew me away. Her character could have been a total joke but she never treated it like one. Just a truly beautiful film.
It's still in limited theaters but also on Amazon and AppleTV as Video On Demand. This is actually worth the money.
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