Border

Now some things may not look "pretty", but it's always in the eye of the beholder. We are used to a certain look, to a certain beauty standard. The makeup is amazing in this, again if you don't mind this going against what you might find enticing and beautiful to look at.

Now I really wanted to stress this, because we are used to glamour and all that. But it's not just those things the movie goes up against. It's also tough to put a mark on this. It is kind of a love story, but it's also more of a drama and then there is also a thriller in there. So you get quite a few things, not to mention the fairy tale aspect of it (or at least fantasy portion). It really won't be something for a lot of people, for a lot of reasons. But if you are ok with odd, if you are ok, with not conventional storytelling, with weird characters, with outsiders overcoming things and reputation, then this will entertain you, but not in the sense a Hollywood movie would.

It's hard to describe, but there is beauty within

Not for the faint hearted. The film had me completely engrossed I have never seen anything like it. Extremely weird sometimes even disturbing but a strange array of beauty emminatea from the lead despite this. Plenty of twists and turns along the way an extremely enjoyable watch.

This is a weird one, in a good way. The closest thing I could compare it to is Eraserhead or Basketcase, and much like those films it's best viewed not knowing anything about it going in. Definitely a lot of growth here for writer John Lindqvist of 'Let the Right One In' fame. He really knows how to create a modern fairy tale through minimalism and his Swedish sensibilities really translate well for this story. All the performances here are terrific, especially the lead actress. I was also blown away by the prosthetic work, it's some of the best I've ever seen. Accolades aside I thought the cinematography left much to be desired and the story to be a bit predictable at points. Definitely not a film for everyone, and I'd have a hard time recommending it to most.

I recommend this to anyone that loves weird films, because this is certainly one of them!

Gripping throughout, dark, good story and performances, unpredictable, very original.

A high 7/10!

If you liked the Norwegian movies Troll hunter or Thale, you'll also like this Swedish-Danish co-production, which has been a festival hit at both Cannes and Karlovy Vary, and probably a lot more festivals to come. You could say the Swedes and Danes seem inspired by the folkloric tales from Norwegian directors, having huge success the latter years.

Saw this at the screening in the Thermal grand hall (cap. 1150) and hardly any went away during the showing, due to the this film being quite captivating.

Border (Originally: Gräns) first appears to be a drama about an odd looking and rather strange woman in her late thirties with a seemingly unique talent in semlling fear, and she has a suitable job as a customs inspector at a Swedish ferry port. She can sniff out guilt, shame, fear and rage. Off-duty, she is a loner, loving quietness in the woods close to her rural home, with a redneck living with her, in separate beds, and she visits her seemingly half demented father in a nursing home. But one day she meets a man which looks surprisingly like her.

This is only the beginning, as the film now takes a slide into a different genre.

Director is Ali Abbassi, who has the equally strange concepts before in the movie Shelley. Well directed and well played. This is far from being a comedy, but there are many funny moments and the audience had huge outburst of laughter.

The title "Border" is really well suited in all ways. Very much recommended, and really something else.