Mørke

I wasn't exactly sure quite what happened in this film. The more I thought about it the more murky it got.

The film begins with some obscure quote from philosopher Albert Camus who apparently propounds the idea that the we struggle to seek meaning in a meaningless world. I assume that this was a film about assisting or facilitating suicide.

Ankers parents may have been assisted towards their demise. Anker seems compelled to help people to slip their mortal coil. But what are the chances that every young female disabled person that he meets seeks to end their own life. Or that they would all choose to marry him. Or that they would all commit suicide on their wedding day in the bath. It is so unlikely that if this did ever happen then actually they must all have been murdered.

The essential mystery is 'Did he kill them or didn't he?'.

The one person who definitely did kill someone by stabbing them was subsequently allowed to go free? I struggle to come to terms with the central absurdity of the film.

Ultimately are we supposed to believe this unlikely series of suicides or are we invited to suspect that this is serial murder.

It would have been better with only two victims instead of four. With four, the central concept collapses under the weight of improbability. Otherwise it is a well made film.

Acting is great, photography and ambient is nice, but the story becomes just ridiculously and absurdly stupid somewhere around the middle of the film.

Not just that the main character behaves as a total idiot ( I won't say more, as I don't want this review to have a spoiler but you'll get it) but also all the other characters behave like brainless crowd.

So it's a case of "is he or isn't he a murderer". Totally predictable. There is some tension which is I guess is interesting but you know at the end that the protagonist, Jacob, is in for a rough time. When it gets to the point where he is being accused of Hanne's murder it's just stupid - Hanne was screaming so you must have killed her - accusation by the police. When Jacob could easily have stated that Hanne did not want to be saved - that was just irritating beyond belief and downright lazy on the writer's/director's part. Jacob, a journalist, supposedly intelligent goes alone to us to a suspected murders house not once, not twice, not three what about five times. What also has to wonder if the police officer is dodgy or not, but that was all a bit contrived as well. Would only passible acting , I would say that this is want to miss.

If someone close to you tries to commit suicide - the normal reaction is to be taken aback. To start thinking what did I do wrong ... and also denial. Did he/she really try that? It can't be true ... something must be off. Usually you are extra careful when something like that happens ... and that is what the brother here does do, as we see him.

I would argue that we can see where this is going with his sister ... and we may see certain things, certain "signals", certain winks ... or maybe we just think we do(?). Even without having read the summary of this, I knew where her destiny would lie ... where her journey would take her - no pun intended. Also there are no brownie points or cookies if you guess right, what happened ... binary choice, only one of two things is possible. But it is nice to see the story evolve and the actors are amazing all around! I would not have reacted the same way the main guy does - but then the movie wouldn't have some thriller spikes in it if he did ... some cliches are being used, but overall more than a decent effort!

Watching "Mørke" is a tedious affair, especially given that the Danes are currently far ahead of the other Nordic countries when it comes to cinematic artistry. Why Jannik Johansen settled for such a monotonous narrative will be the actual great mystery of this film. "Mørke" is a highly generic thriller film, that doesn't even attempt at delivering some actual thrills or suspense for its viewers. The otherwise talented Nikolaj Lie Kaas seems uncomfortable venturing around the eponymous town, looking for answers to the death of his sister. While perhaps not outright uncomfortable for the audience, it definitely is a lackluster experience.