Dir; Jeanette Nordahl | Cast: Sidse Babett Knudsen, Elliott Crossest Hove, Carla Philip Roder, Sofie Torp | Drama, Denmark 89′
Trust the Danes to make a visually stylish slice of social realism all about small time crooks. Sidse Babett Knudsen is the resounding presence in this slim but sensitively handled rites of passage drama from Danish director Jeanette Nordahl (Waiting for Phil). She plays the head of a dysfunctional family of smalltime druggies whose stomping ground is the Danish countryside near Odense. The story is seen from the perspective of their teenage cousin Ida (striking newcomer Sandra Guldberg Kampp) who moves in after the tragic death of her mother in a car accident. Ida’s reasonably sheltered background doesn’t prepare her for what’s to come, but in trying to get help from the authorities she finds herself linked to a crime that could bring repercussions on the family who took her in. Ida finds hidden resources to cope with the trauma in a layered characterisation that pays tribute to Hanna writer Ingeborg Topsoe’s clever scripting. Artful camerawork, convincing performances and nicely judged pacing make this subtle gangland tale into a treat. MT
WILDLAND will open in cinemas across the UK on Friday 13th August