Armand

Armand and the other boy, the centre of the story here, are absent. They are rendered psychologically dead by psychologically dead - or insane - parents.

What began as a gritty drama, turned out to be psychological horror. I suppose the Scandinavians are good at living the unconscious, manifesting the darkness. A bleeding nose in one of the characters signals early on that we are to spiral down, nauseated, into the madness of all the "adults". The feeling of vertigo is subtle and perhaps more terrifying than Hitchock in its normalised elusiveness. Empty corridors, staircases, and silent screams. A children's choir where children are voiceless. Two mothers who couldn't be more repulsive. Where does evil begin? "If you look at our image, you'll see only chaos. If you dig deeper, you'll find nothing else."

Greetings again from the darkness. Accusing someone, anyone, of something or anything, is as easy as speaking the words. The challenge of justice unfolds with the (often) difficulty in finding sufficient evidence for proof. Although all of this holds true for any age and most any infraction, when the scenario plays out with six-year-olds at school, the situation can prove nearly unbearable for the parents and faculty. This is the basis for the first feature film from writer-director Halfdan Ullman Tondel (grandson of Norwegian actress Liv Ullman and legendary Swedish director Ingmar Bergman).

Elisabeth, a well-known actor, is on the phone with her son Armand, "I love you. Do you love me?" She is rushing to attend an after-hours meeting that's been called at her son's school. She has no idea of the topic. Her heels clack against the tile floor in the school hallway as she steams towards the assigned classroom, unprepared for the ambush awaiting behind the door. Demure teacher Sunna (Thea Lambrechts Vaulen) is reluctantly running the meeting. The other two parents in attendance are Sarah (Ellen Dorrit Peterson, THE INNOCENTS, 2021; THELMA, 2017) and her husband Anders (Endre Hellestveit). Sunna explains that Armand is accused of highly inappropriate action towards Sarah and Anders' son. Elisabeth is shocked and can't believe any 6-year-old, much less her Armand, would perform such an act.

The tension in the room is extreme and becomes heightened as more of the story is revealed. There is an existing relationship between these two parties, and a recent personal tragedy has created a rift that might never heal. We understand how Elisabeth could presume the accusations are retribution for the previous events, and as viewers, we are caught off-guard by these connections. Malfunctioning fire alarms periodically interrupt the proceedings, and we can't help but wonder if false alarms are the real theme of this story. Still, the accusations are such that some type of discussion is merited.

Soon two additional school officials join the meeting. Ajsa (Vera Veljovic), battling a recurring bloody nose tries to keep the peace, while principal Jarle (Oystein Roger) is most concerned about the school's reputation and lack of formal procedure. Filmmaker Tondel includes some surreal sequences that lead to a panic attack, and mostly what we see are adults who can't agree on how best to handle the awkward situation ... or even if there is a situation to handle. Elisabeth is played brilliantly by Renate Reinsve, who proves her amazing performance in THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD (2021) was no fluke. She has a scene of uncontrollable emotions that generates true discomfort for those in the room, as well as those of us watching.

This was Norway's Oscar submission for Best International Feature, however it did not land a nomination. Still, it's a different kind of drama meant to display the power of emotions and stress as it urges the viewer to decide not just how they would react on either side, but also what would be the proper manner in which to handle the situation.

Opens in theaters on February 7, 2025.

From the grandson of Ingmar German and Liv Ullman, Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel has a debut that shows good potential but despite it's ambitious concept and strong moments, it fails to fully hold it's narrative and goes through a limbo.

The psychological drama and themes explored of school system and the battle of wits between people is a good concept, especially not knowing much from the European standpoint. With good camerawork and sound designs, it helps to create the claustrophobic setting and tensions. The performances from the cast, especially Renate Reinsve was great and felt realistic. Unfortunately, what makes the movie not work is the way the narrative is written and how bumpy it feels.

Many of the writing components have good concepts but it's surrealist approach didn't work, which ends up feeling repetitive and muddled as it continues. Making things a bit difficult to really understand or connect with the characters or finding them believable at times. Stories like these are movies I like but I can't really engage with it because of the muddled writing and repetitive nature. The direction from Tøndel is good but at some moments, the direction felt a bit misplaced and lost. Being heavy dialogue, the dialogue is a mix of both good and some not so good.

At it's core, Tøndel has a lot of talent as this movie does show his talents and potential of being a good filmmaker in the future. But there's a lot of work still to be done.

The movie is a respectable effort in the art of Cinema although, even if it is filmed in color it is very nearly 'film noir' , muted colors and lighting throughout sometimes in the extreme; a scene in a classroom with the lights turned off ? The plot is too intricate and character's relationships to one another just seem a bit too cute to be plausible but there to tell the story and then you get more of their backstories as you get deeper into the movie. Look the acting is great and it explores an age old human dilemma where things are not what they seem and people act on their assumptions when when the facts are uncertain. I saw 'The Teacher's Room' which was outstanding this movie is similar in some respects but is not ' knitted ' together very well . I am glad I saw it but would be hard pressed to recommend it , if I had been streaming it at home I would not have finished watching it. The movie is just not straight forward in it's delivery and that is too bad; it had much more potential with drama and acting that def. Is present in the film.

The film is named after a primary school pupil Armand whose mother Elizabeth is invited to the school with regard to the incident that happened between Armand and another pupil. The other pupil's parents appear as well, and little by little we discover what happened, or, to be more exact, we discover that the whole story is confusing and extremely complex. The genre is dancing between a drama (yes, at times it seems overly dramatic), a thriller, a detective story and even a musical. There are various cinematic ideas used really curiously to show moments of helplessness, confusion or fear. All in all, the film ends leaving us with more questions than answers. I'd definitely recommend this one to everyone who likes experimental cinema.