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Both Noomi Rapace and Kristoffer Joner are acting the hell out of this movie. What great performances! It's too bad the the story isn't quite up to par. I liked the premise, a mom and child placed in protection to avoid being in reach of the child's abusive father. Because of what they have been through, the mother is over protective of her child. Kristoffer Joner plays a guy working at a nearby electronics outlet.

I'm sure the ending they had in mind was good, and that they were going for the kind of movie that you end up discussing afterwords with who ever you were watching it. But it all ends up executed in a confusing manner. I like some of the mystery, but not how it is presented.

This is the tag-line of much awaited new film from Pål Sletaune (behind the great films "Naboer", "Amatørene" and "Budbringeren") is starring Noomi Rapace and Kristoffer Joner. Seven years since "naboer" or in English "next door", we get a film with similar ideas - a look into disturbed or distorted minds.

Single mother Anna moves with her 8 year old son to a big flat with secret address outside Oslo to get away from her violent husband. Anna is scared stiff that they will be found, and is under heavy watch by a couple of child care workers. She get's the idea of buying a baby call so that her son doesn't have to sleep in her bed, only to find that the baby call picks up another troubled child somewhere in the flat. Anna is really on the edge, and maybe her imagination is playing her as well!?

This psychological thriller goes under your skin in the sympathy for Anna and the other troubled minds in this film. You want her to relax, but still understand how difficult it is when you trust no one.

Really great play by Rapace. She gets under your skin. The film is slow paced in a couple of periods, only to speed up at times, just as real life would be in such a situation. The film is not like you think it will be, so this is not your standard thriller. I still think I'd like another ending to this, though maybe not happy...

Well Sletaune can put another great film under his belt. Always worthwhile and interesting to get sucked into his stories. Well done!

With the huge success of Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and later on Prometheus, Noomi Rapace has become a well established actress, and if you are interested in seeing her in something closer to her home you can check out this movie. Directed by Pål Sletaune (Next Door, You Really Got Me) it has that strange and almost surreal atmosphere (almost surreal, more like super surreal), so besides the Norwegian vibe you have the surreal one too. Two phenomenal leads, Noomi Rapace and Kristoffer Joner create a perfect setting for Babycall. While Kristoffer didn't have much transitions to go to, Noomi here had the opportunity to take us on a journey to a mind of a single mother and she did it perfectly. We can understand different states of her mind, without any words spoken and follow her mental state as the story develops.

Anna and her son Anders have just moved into a new apartment after her husband tried to kill Anders. They now live in hiding and await the final court decision about the custody of Anders. Anna, afraid for her sons wellbeing is overprotective and is practically glued to Anders. This will be a problem when it's time for him to go back to school, and she nervously accepts this only after being chased away from school grounds. Still in fear that her husband will find them she goes to a store and buys a baby monitor. There she will meet Helge, a shy salesman troubled by his mothers illness and two of them will become friends. Trouble starts when Anna starts hearing something that sounds like an abuse and brutal beating over the baby monitor. After consulting with Helge she discovers that this is an interference from another baby monitor only 50 meters away. This is the same time when mind will start playing tricks on her, making it extremely difficult for her to get to the bottom of this...

Babycall is a strange movie, and while some might find it a bit slow, it is quite rewarding if you watch it 'till the end. It is a different take on the same thriller/horror subject so popular in Hollywood, but it definitely has its flaws. One of the main ones is the sudden turn in mood towards the end of the movie, and relatively confusing story with the heavy lifting left to the viewer.

Movie recommendations site: Rabbit-Reviews.com - Only movies worth watching

I saw this film as part of the Imagine film festival (SF/fantasy/horror) Amsterdam 2012. The festival website labeled it as "horror", but I rather concur with the mixed "horror/thriller" label we see on IMDb. We cannot help feeling sympathy with the mother (Anna) and her son (Anders), just having moved to a hiding place where her husband resp. his father cannot find them. We are told this is because of prior domestic violence towards the son. It is the main reason for buying and installing a baby monitor in the son's bedroom. Since he is 11, he would not need such supervision in normal circumstances.

Apart from that, we see what initially looks like a sub-plot, in the form of a flirtation with the salesman (Helge) in the home electronics shop where the baby monitor is bought. The relationship strengthens later on when Anna hears alarming sounds out of the newly installed device, and seeks his advice as it is not coming from Anders' room. Helge explains that the signal can be picked up from a similar device in the neighborhood. Given that Helge is the only one taking her story seriously, and Anna feels all alone with her situation, it can be no surprise that she asks for his help. And Helge, also feeling alone, is very eager to offer some assistance.

Anna stumbles on a nearby lake, where she observes disturbing things happening on the opposite side. What she sees, obviously reminds her of her own reasons to run away from her husband. After rushing through the woods to find the place where it happened, there are no visible traces of something out of the ordinary. On later occasions Anna completely fails to find the lake again, as if it never existed in the first place. We are as confused as Anna is, since several landmarks we saw before along the path to the lake, are still on their original spot and look undisturbed.

All in all, though a few scenes could be improved by shortening some parts, I saw an entertaining mix of what was real and what only existed in Anna's mind. After a while we think we are sure what's real and what's not, given what is presented to us by the scenario writers. Acting is very good, so we are easily convinced by what we see.

However, one of the final scenes shows aforementioned lake again, after we saw with our own eyes that Anna could not find it anymore. It unexpectedly confronts us with a completely different view on the matter (no details, to prevent spoilers). In hindsight, I could remember no pointers that we may have been misled by what we had seen on screen. In other words, this was really a surprise for me, but of course, I may have missed some clues. Yet I think this should not happen in a "thriller" type of film. Some cleverly planted clues with hints that there might be more to it than what we saw, certainly would have improved our viewer experience.

Wonder why nobody didn't compare this to the Japanese horror classic "Dark water".. The setting is kind of the same.. I loved Dark water, and I liked Babycall as well, even though it was a i bit more messy, and the plot felt a little too "constructed".. But its still good.. Noomi Rapage is great in the role of a young mother on the verge of mental breakdown.. As in many new age horror movies we have a mother moving into a suburban ghetto apartment, after having troubles with her ex husband abusing their son (just like in Dark water).. She hears some strange screams on her baby alarm, and the story starts to unfold.. The atmosphere and the puzzle is well made, but the plot to easy figure in big terms.. Screenplay and acting is good.. Story a bit too mainstream for my taste, but still thrilling at times for sure.. Noomi Rapage does a very good job, lots of tension.. The sceneries and the suspense works, but I missed a little originality to the story.. But bottom line, and enjoyable ride, that could have been better with a more simply story.. A little too many threads for it own good.. Still i give it 7 cause, its well done and I am a sucker for subttle slow semi horror movies...

Noomi Repace, who in my opinion is one of the most interesting actors out there, brought me to this Swedish thriller. Let me just say before anything, that this isn't one of those in-your face thrillers, or even particularly fast paced and racy. It's one of those films that have the really dense stories, that most people can't guess the end to.

'The Monitor' shows Noomi Repace playing Anna, a overprotective, paranoid mother, coming out of a traumatic experience with her husband. Her primal instinct is to protect her son, but there's something unusual going on around her, and the disturbed Anna can't quite wrap her finger around it.

The acting in this film is extremely natural, and its well written. The suspense is worth the final reveal, and is quite rewarding to those who patiently sit through the entire film. If you're a fan of story-oriented thrillers, this film is worth watching once.

Baby Call – The Monitor – TRASH IT (C+) Baby Call is a Swedish movie about a young woman escaping from her abusive husband with her 8 year old son. Terrified that her ex-husband will find them she buys a baby monitor to keep in her son's room at all times. But strange noises echo in the baby monitor from elsewhere in the building. As she witnesses the sounds of what she believes is another child being murdered she fears it is her own. Reliving the nightmare she recently escaped Anna will need to figure out what's real and what isn't before she loses her sanity and her child. (IMDB) The premises of the movie is typical and perfect for horror movie but sadly the terrible and usual ending made the whole movie like a Big Cheat sold on the name of Noomi Rapace. The only reason movie is getting C+ is because of great performance by Noomi Rapace as She was incredible as the scared young woman terrified for her son's life. Kristoffer Joner was great as lonesome sales person. Overall, it's disappointing. I wished it had better story or at least better ending.

Babycall is a sparse psychological mystery / thriller by writer / director Pal Sletaune, centred on a convincing and naturalistic performance by Noomi Rapace, with excellent support from Kristopher Joner as her character's awkward admirer and Vetle Qvenild Werring as her son Anders. As a claustrophobic mood piece, it is effective, and Rapace gives an accomplished performance, as should be expected by those who know her work. Events are bleak and the central character is troubled, and it is not a comfortable watch, but ultimately likely to be somewhat satisfying for fans of the genre, if perhaps only for the central performances, since horror is not a word that sits well in its description.

This one was, at least in Norway, marketed as a horror film. Seeing the trailer a long time ago, at least I got the impression of that. It looked thrilling and frightening, capturing the feeling of paranoia. But this is not by far a horror film. There are no frightening moments in it at all. But it could still be a good thriller, right? Well, not great, but not directly bad either. It's as mediocre as it could get. It had a lot of opportunities to escalate, but it never really did, at least not the way I wanted it to.

A huge problem I have with Norwegian movies is the acting. There is lot of over-acting. There is some of that in this one too. Kristoffer Joner is great, as he usually is. Noomi Rapace however, I think over-acted a little bit. At times, she was kind of...too dramatic. This goes for many of the other actors too. They are not that believable. But it's not that big a deal. If a movie is good, I can look past that.

Some times the movie felt more like a drama. Many times that mix can result in something great, but they didn't really pull it off here. I felt it slowed down the movie. It became plain boring at times.

One thing that struck my mind was how this movie reminded me of the Spanish horror/thriller "The Baby's room". I'm not accusing the creators of ripping it off, but I couldn't help seeing some similarities between the two. It wouldn't surprise me if it was a little inspired by it, but of course, it's two whole different plots. It was just some similar elements between the two.

Don't let me keep you from watching it. Norwegian movies are often better received outside the country than here in Norway. That's weird, but anyway, you might like it.

Anna moves into hiding in a shabby flat in an apartment building outside Oslo, with her young son Anders. She is a profoundly neurotic, young woman: terrified that the boy's violent father will find them again and attack her son.

Having been instructed by social services that Anders should sleep in his own room, she buys a baby-monitor from a local shop, in order that she can hear him sleep. However she starts picking up the sounds of violence from a nearby flat.

Unable to tell the difference between her psychosis induced world and reality, she seeks help from Helge, the shy sales assistant who sold her the monitor.

Just because she's paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get her.. but it does make it difficult to piece together the story, told mostly from her desperately disturbed perspective.

This film won the Grand Prize at the Gerardmer Film Festival in France: it is really worth a look.

There have been some discussions about the movie (and certain elements of it) and how some people look at them and what they see. Of course there is also the "Stupid movie" category some do put it in. And I don't blame those people, because apart from the fact, that we all have different tastes, the movie itself does really challenge most viewers with its interpretation of the story.

There are quite a lot of things that will not be answered by the movie. You will have to explain those things to yourself or leave it be. Whatever your choice, the movie will not tell you you're wrong. It's actually pretty clever and one might expect a Damon Lindelof remake/script emerging anytime soon (if it doesn't already exist). Thinking about it (even though I don't like the way our main actress is portrayed), makes me like the movie even more ...

"How do you know your memories are real?" After finally leaving her abusive husband, Anna (Repace) and her eight year old son are taken to a secret apartment where he won't be able to find them. In order to help her sleep at night she buys a baby monitor to help her know what's going on in her son's room. One night she is awoken by the sounds of screaming coming from the monitor, but the sounds aren't from her son's room. She is left to wonder if it's her imagination or if the horror she is hearing is real. I was looking forward to this one for two reasons. It looked pretty creepy and I am becoming a fan of Rapace. Based off my expectations I have to say that I was a little disappointed. The movie was OK, but like most foreign movies it tends to drag quite a bit. The movie is very disturbing and really deals with child abuse in a way that most American movies tend to shy away from. I'm not trying to talk you out of watching this but just be prepared that the movie is pretty slow and shows child abuse in a very disturbing fashion. The entire movie does keep you guessing and on edge wondering what is real and what isn't. The ending does make you re-think about everything you saw and catches you by surprise. Overall, disturbing but OK. If you think you can handle it then watch it but nothing to rush out and see. I give it a C+.

THE MONITOR stars Noomi Rapace as Anna, a mother who is in hiding in order to keep her son safe from his abusive father. This all seems straightforward, but it's not.

Anna may be suffering from some severe mental issues that cloud the situation dramatically. Much of what occurs could be real or illusory. We're given pieces of the puzzle, only to have the puzzle itself continue to expand.

This film has an icy sense of dread and uneasiness right out of the gate. Anna lives in an enormous, box-like apartment complex set in a terminally grey atmosphere of heavy, perpetual gloom.

Ms. Rapace is fantastic in her harried, paranoiac role. She elicits both sympathy and a touch of fear from the viewer.

If you enjoy suspenseful, psychological-thrillers filled with mystery, then this should keep you guessing until the end...

This disturbing drama-thriller is almost like a sequel to "Daisy Diamond", the Danish shocker from 2007. They both have Noomi Rapace in the leading role and she carries most of the film. She again plays an unstable single mother, but this time of a grown boy, not a baby girl. And the setting is kinda the same, the desolate and tall block apartment complex and the empty lane which she is constantly shown walking. They are meant to symbolize her own loneliness and alienation. And this is a hint to what ultimately is revealed as a great surprise in the end.

This is a typical Scandinavian/North European picture which focuses on the plight of single mothers who have been victims of their husbands' rage and physical abuse. Anna (Rapace) moves in to a new place, the big apartment block, after she and her little son have been victimized by her husband. She feels alone and a little afraid in their apartment. She at first makes her son sleep in the same bed as her, but as he soon gets tired of it, she buys a baby call device and puts it next to his bed so she can sleep assured nothing will happen to him without her hearing it. One night she hears loud screams that sound like they are coming from a boy. She rushes to his son's room but founds him sound asleep and nobody is there. She then goes to the trade center nearby where she got the device and talks with the salesman about it. He tells her that her own baby call must have picked up the signal from another baby call that is somewhere near her. This only makes her more anxious to find out whose baby call that may be and which child that makes such hair-raising noise in the middle of night. In the meantime, the salesman (played by Kristofer Joner), a single man who is just as lonely as she, develops an affection for her and tries to get closer to her. But it gets even worse for Anna as she has problems sleeping and finds herself waking up at the oddest places and starts to hallucinate of a place which doesn't exist.

The acting is very good by the two main actors, Rapace and Joner, who are both very believable and effective in their roles. Joner looks his part and Rapace looks her part. There is very little satisfaction to find in this film except for the suspense and dramatic performances. And the way it ends doesn't do much to amend that. In other words, it is a very dark, haunting and bleak picture which is meant to capture life at its cruelest. Almost the whole movie is like one big constant nightmare and there are a few elements of Polanski's apartment trilogy there obviously. The mother-child vs evil father or evil male entity which persecutes them is a familiar motif in such films. And as such the movie doesn't really break any new ground. It is just a passable dark drama, something along the lines of Dark Water, but there is nothing supernatural about it. I give it a 6. 6+

This has been on hold for a while, it would seem, as since this was made Noomi Rapace has become a name to follow, so this is well worth checking out for the sake of curiosity if nothing else. A great central performance and good intentions are not enough to save this film. It creates drama and tension, builds nicely and everything is very much like a classic Polanski, but when it starts to play its hand and get clever, it unfortunately ties itself up in knots and leaves you wonder what went wrong with the last act. I'm a big fan of Noomi Rapace and I don't doubt her for a second, and it must be said there is a lot of promise here, but sadly, by the end, it is little more than a good but failed effort.

This film is rubbish but of that stinking and ugly rubbish, meaningless film that makes continuous and increasingly stupid twists and turns its workhorse, too bad these twists and turns are very stupid and obvious until the last one that transcends becoming only senseless to the nth degree. The plot itself would also be nice if it was developed in a simpler way instead of the pointless and incoherent way it was treated in the film. This movie is really pissing because it could be good but there are too many nonsensical scenes and there is too much useless stuff that overlaps in a very stupid way. Overall, the movie is awful.

The Match Factory, The Match Factory, The Match Factory, The Match Factory... Yes, that company, recently acquired by Mubi, is the producer of this film... The Match Factory used to make films like this. What happened to them?

"Babycall," aka "The Monitor," directed by Pål Sletaune, whose films I've never seen before, is a thriller co-produced by Germany, Norway, and Sweden, bearing the characteristic features of the nature, people, and literature of all three countries.

However, I want to open a separate heading here for Noomi Rapace. Born to a Swedish mother and a Spanish father, she is one of the rare actresses in the world who works wonders both in her own country, in her own language, and in global cinema in English.

I came to Babycall really not knowing anything much at all about the film. Half way through I was just about ready to give up on it. As an ex-teacher I'm really not that much into films about over-possessive, paranoid, helicopter parents doting over their frequently brattish offspring. I've been there, done that, enough times to last way more than this lifetime. And that's what Babycall seemed to be about. Noomi Rapace playing (against her famed Lisbeth Solander persona) this demented, self-possessed single mother of an 8 year-old boy, attempting to escape the legal clutches of an unseen, supposedly violent father, with the very much qualified assistance of a couple of children's services officers.

Let's be clear here too, that Rapace is very convincing in the role which has her onscreen, a great deal of the first half of this Norwegian film, which is probably better summed up by its US title "The Monitor". Ever so gradually some unexpected supernatural elements are added to this dysfunctional family drama to change the substance and core elements of the film completely. Crucial to this slow-burning metamorphosis is the role of Kristoffer Joner who plays an electrical appliances retail salesperson, who appears somewhat oddly sympathetic to the mother's continual quandaries.

I don't wish to spoil much more of the narrative, except to say that's it's pretty clear that even a number of reviewers on these pages haven't fully understood Helge's (Joner) role, or abilities, in what plays out. If they had they wouldn't be rabbiting on about plot holes that don't exist. Suffice to say the third act of Babycall contains a couple of doozy little twists that I certainly (thankfully) never saw coming and which completely change the complexion of earlier parts of the film and the way we may have initially viewed them.

Director Pål Sletaune deserves plaudits for the way he has constructed Babycall. It's a creepily intriguing movie, but one that eschews the cinematic traditions of nocturnal, dimly-lit scenes and haunting soundtracks. Much of the action takes place during the day in rather brightly lit buildings and rooms. He seems to have gone out of his way to turn on its head, the way one might go about filming a supernatural/horror tale and he does so, very successfully.

I'm only mildly surprised that Hollywood hasn't come calling seeking the rights to the inevitable remake. This is a very fine movie, but one that I think has just too much subtlety and nuance for North American audiences ( the IMDB rating of 5.7 is indicative of what I'm saying) seeking an adrenaline burst of quick thrills, dominating sound and explosive action set pieces. Make sure you watch till the end.

Wow. I honestly wasn't expecting much when I clicked on this movie one quiet Saturday afternoon but I was pleasantly surprised! This ended up being a complex story that was (mostly) NOT supernatural, but more of a thin line between reality and psychosis. It's a bit of a slow burn, but once things get rolling, the questions start piling up and you begin to wonder what is really going on. There are a few little details that I wish they would have explained a bit better, in the end but overall, this was a great movie and definitely worth the watch. The casting was great and the story is well written!