The Unthinkable

A bit disjointed. Too sentimental. Too drawn out (cut the first thirty minutes and the last thirty minutes, and you wouldn't miss much). No real sympathetic characters. Implausible premise. But it was exciting to watch.

This is a bit of a mixed genre film, part romance, part action thriller, and both parts are done well, and work ok togethor. But there is a feeling if it had picked one or the other, and gone for it, the result might have been better. The acting is good, the set piece action is well done, but the script is a bit all over the place. Intriguing, and worth a watch, but it doesn't completely work.

The Unthinkable (Den blomsterdid nu kommer) is a low-budget, Swedish action/disaster film following the character Alex and his estranged father Björn who are forced to reconnect when the country falls under attack from an unknown entity.

This is really not the film the poster or the brief synopsis on Prime make it out to be but I guess they market it that way to try and entice more viewers. I'd advise that you do not go into this film expecting a typical action or disaster film as it's anything but.

For the most part, the film is really well shot and manages to generate a very atmospheric and moody tone complete with a great ambient score. The action set-pieces that do exist in the film are executed well and the effects are very good especially considering the budget the filmmakers had to work with.

As a side effect of the low budget and alluded to above, the film focusses mostly on the behaviour and reactions of the people caught up in the middle of all the confusion as opposed to the action itself - we mostly hear about things rather than witness them ourselves. It's a very human and personalised approach to the disaster genre, much like films like Cloverfield or Godzilla (2014).

The pace only really starts to pick up around the halfway mark and the first half of the film is so painfully slow that it will likely turn away impatient viewers or those who were expecting something different.

Really, this film could do with being about twenty minutes shorter (probably taken out of the first hour) to help with the pacing but the second half of the film and especially the ending is excellent.

Had no idea what the movie would be about so my expectations were none, but I was pleasantly surprised!

The love story falls a bit flat, and so does some of the acting (tragically mainly by the main characters), but for me the movie wasn't about the love story, but about how Sweden would handle a disaster. I'm not pro military, so I was surprised of how invested I was in the plot, and how uneasy and scared I felt watching this. I also think it really captures that realistic essence and atmosphere which I think Hollywood movies almost always lack. Since I don't know much about the military though, I can't speak for how much was ACTUALLY realistic in actions etc.

The soundtrack was not memorable in melody, but enhanced the movie experience a lot! It reminded me of the Interstellar soundtrack that I think is amazing.

The CGI is amazing. I never questioned it and didn't even reflect on it until I read the reviews here.

In short: great film that really targets that unsettling-nerve.

It's a very slow burn needless to say some of the effects were good stick with it get the popcorn out and and keep up with the subtitles👍