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‘Armand’ Review: Ingmar Bergman’s Grandson Directs Renate Reinsve as a Mother Defending Her Son in Ambitious School-Set Drama

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‘Armand’ Review: Ingmar Bergman’s Grandson Directs Renate Reinsve as a Mother Defending Her Son in Ambitious School-Set Drama

Norwegian writer-director Halfdan Ullmann Tondel takes some big swings with his first feature Armand, not all of which connect, but the ambition and risk-taking are largely impressive.

A single-setting drama that unfolds in an echo-filled elementary school after hours, it stars Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World) as local celebrity Elisabeth, the mother of never-met Armand, a first-grade boy who is accused by his classmate Jon, also never seen, of sexual abuse.

Armand

The Bottom Line

Works hard, but not quite top of the class.

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Venue: Cannes Film Festival (Un Certain Regard)
Cast: Renate Reinsve, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Endre Hellestveit, Thea Lambrechts Vaulen, Oystein Roger, Vera Veijovic
Director/screenwriter: Halfdan Ullmannn Tondel

1 hour 57 minutes

When the boys’ teacher and key school staffers call a meeting with parents to decide the next steps, Elisabeth clashes with Jon’s parents, Sarah (Ellen Dorrit Petersen) and Anders (Endre Hellestveit), although not all is as it seems. The basic setup recalls, among other stories about accusations, Roman Polanski’s adaptation of stage play Carnage, but Armand gets much weirder as it goes on, with choreographed dance sequences and melodramatic revelations that feel contrived and tacked on to make the film more arthouse and less issues-driven-middlebrow.

Reception in Cannes has been largely warm following its debut in the Un Certain Regard strand, and Armand has racked up some offshore sales.

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Bit by bit, Ullmann Tondel’s screenplay reveals that Elisabeth and Sarah have more history than shared playdates for their kids. They’ve known each other since they were children at this very same school, and Elisabeth was married to Sarah’s brother, who is now dead, possibly from suicide after a tempestuous relationship with Elisabeth. Reinsve plays her character here as a woman trying to live as normal a life as possible and be the best mother she can be, even though she’s well aware how her fame changes the dynamic in every room she enters — though egalitarian-minded Norwegians often try to seem unimpressed.

That’s certainly the case with the boys’ classroom teacher Sunna (Thea Lambrechts Vaulen), who, although she looks young, is trying to appear as professional as possible and handle the whole situation by the book. The school’s principal, Jarle (Oystein Roger), is mostly concerned with covering his back and avoiding any escalation that would get him in trouble. School safeguarding lead Ajsa (Vera Veijovic) is there to back him up with policy advice, but when she keeps getting uncontrollable nose bleeds the constant interruptions to the meeting only serve to escalate the tension.

The atmosphere could be cut with a popsicle stick from the start already, with prissy, judgy-faced Sarah ready to call the cops at any second and keen to put all the blame on Elisabeth. But Elisabeth is not to be trifled with, and she defends her son vigorously, pointing out that it’s only one kid’s word against another and questioning whether or not what was said was misinterpreted.

Back and forth the bickering goes until Ullmann Tondel starts to throw strange shapes into the drama. In the press notes he talks about the influence of films by Luis Buñuel, especially The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and The Exterminating Angel, and that’s felt in the increasingly surreal touches, as when Elisabeth suddenly gets an uncontrollable fit of giggles — a scene that goes on uncomfortably long. While that feels closer to Buñuel’s taste for shock moves and absurdist mystery, the sequences of Elisabeth suddenly breaking into a choreographed pas de deux with the school janitor (Patrice Demoniere) and later an almost orgiastic ensemble dance with a larger cast just seem self-indulgent and silly.

Some may find themselves straining to find artistic traces here of the work of Ullmann Tondel’s grandparents, Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullmann, but millennial-generation Ullmann Tondel’s directing style feels more of a piece with contemporary Nordic cinema, with its flights of fancy and quirky humor, than the high style of his progenitors. His screenwriting here, however, feels like it’s lost its way when it tries to tidy everything up in the final scene, even if the staging strains to maintain a sense of mystery by drowning out the dialogue with thrashing rain.

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Full credits

Venue: Cannes Film Festival (Un Certain Regard)
Cast: Renate Reinsve, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Endre Hellestveit, Thea Lambrechts Vaulen, Oystein Roger, Vera Veijovic, Assad Siddique, Patrice Demoniere
Production companies: Eye Eye Pictures, Keplerfilm, One Two Films, Prolaps Produktion, Film I Vast
Director/screenwriter: Halfdan Ullmannn Tondel
Producers: Andrea Berentsen Ottmar
Executive producers:  Dyveke Bjorkly Graver, Harald Fagerheim Bugge, Renate Reinsve
Co-producers: Koji Nelissen, Derk-Jan Warrink, Fred Burle, Sol Bondy, Alicia Hansen, Stina Eriksson, Kristina Borjeson, Magnus Thomassen
Directors of photography: Pal Ulvik Rokseth
Production designer: Mirjam Veske
Costume designer: Alva Brosten
Editor: Robert Krantz
Sound designer: Mats Lid Stoten
Music: Ella van der Woude
Casting: Jannicke Stendal Hansen
Sales: Charades

1 hour 57 minutes

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Movie Reviews

‘By Design’ Review: Juliette Lewis Plays a Chair in an Absurdist Comedy That Fascinates and Alienates

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‘By Design’ Review: Juliette Lewis Plays a Chair in an Absurdist Comedy That Fascinates and Alienates

Since her female-led Lord of the Flies riff Ladyworld premiered at Fantasia Fest in 2018, director Amanda Kramer’s films have gotten progressively weirder and more abstract. Her subsequent films Please, Baby, Please and Give Me Pity! were both experimental musicals shot and performed in a vintage style. Please, Baby, Please — the more ambitious of the two — boasted the return of Demi Moore, bringing her into the arthouse and paving the way for her career resurgence as the star of The Substance.

By Design also makes a point to bring back actresses Hollywood has been ignoring for years — Robin Tunney, Samantha Mathis, Melanie Griffith and, of course, Academy Award nominee Juliette Lewis. And in Kramer’s dreamland they don’t have to play tired moms or put-upon teachers; they can simply live a stylish life, quipping and conversing with each other onscreen.

By Design

The Bottom Line

Not for everyone, in a good way.

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Venue: Sundance Film Festival (NEXT)
Cast: Juliette Lewis, Samantha Mathis, Robin Tunney, Udo Kier, Mamoudou Athie, Alisa Torres, Madison McKinley, Clifton Collins Jr., Betty Buckley, Melanie Griffith
Director/Writer: Amanda Kramer

1 hour 32 minutes

The film tells the story of Camille (Lewis) a single, middle-aged woman carving out a quiet existence with her two best friends, Lisa (Mathis) and Irene (Tunney). After lunch one day, the women go shopping and Camille falls in love with a beautiful golden brown chair. The narrator (Griffith) refers to it as a stunner, and the sentiment is shared by almost everyone who sees it. The wood is high-quality with a smooth, chic design that would lend itself well to an elegant home. From the moment Camille sees the chair, she’s compelled to purchase it, despite how expensive it is. Camille, Lisa and Irene all fawn over the chair while the saleswoman Sarah (Madison McKinley) looks on with annoyance. The chair is so expensive that Camille has to go home that night and check her finances before returning to purchase it.

But the morning she arrives, cash in hand, the chair has already been sold to Marta (Alisa Torres) as a parting gift to her ex-boyfriend Olivier (Mamoudou Athie), a handsome and heartbroken pianist. Dejected, Camille asks Sarah if she can touch the chair before leaving. But once she does, something magic happens: Her soul leaves her body and enters the chair. 

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Irene takes Camille’s body home while her soul is wrapped up with the chair and delivered to Olivier. Its presence immediately improves his mood, and Olivier begins using the chair as emotional support. Marta has taken all the other furniture, so the chair sits in the middle of his home, serving as his only companion. Perhaps it’s Camille’s spirit that draws him to the chair, giving him comfort and allowing him to work through his loneliness.

Meanwhile, Camille’s body lies motionless in her apartment while her friends and family come over and try to spend time with her. Comedically, they all assume she’s giving them the silent treatment for one reason or another, and they become convinced she’s suffering from a deep depression. But our narrator reveals the truth: Camille isn’t depressed or jealous of any other person. Throughout the film, Camille’s favorite quote is repeated: “Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” Camille doesn’t want the money or love lives of her friends. She’s not depressed in any traditional sense, being content with the smallness of her life. It’s living that she seems to have little interest in. What she wants is to be adored without having to perform the tasks of being a real, live person. Camille wants to be coveted, desired and admired for simply being a beautiful thing. 

And Olivier loves her as the chair, perhaps because of Camille’s calming spirit. By Design is the kind of film that isn’t afraid to be corny, treating Olivier and Camille’s connection as man and chair as seriously as any other relationship. When Olivier goes to dinner with his friends, he brings the chair with him. When he sleeps, he dreams of people crowding him, intruding on his intimate time with it. Camille is just happy to be needed and provide care without having to be herself.

But eventually, as the people around them get increasingly frustrated with the odd couple’s dreamlike connection, real life threatens to kill Camille’s fantasy. Kramer’s script is philosophical, the film questioning the very nature of what it means to live and the burdens of emotions like love, hate and jealousy. 

By Design is a gorgeous film, with stylized interiors and attractive people in stylish, colorful clothes. The world Camille inhabits is a beautiful one and all she wants is to be one of the beautiful things a production designer would add to a scene. Why star in the film when you can just be still, waiting for admiring eyes? In contrast to Camille’s desires, By Design deploys a group of dancers who exist in her and Olivier’s dream spaces. It’s in these moments that the film feels more like performance art, externalizing a pleasure so abstract that it defies verbal explanation.

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But Griffith’s narration puts all the absurd scenes into context, her iconic, flirty and feminine voice gently guiding us through the film’s theatrical beats. Much like Give Me Pity!, By Design feels like a performance piece centered on one woman’s unique mind. The insights and artistic inclinations that populate Kramer’s work aren’t for everyone, and there’s a good chance By Design won’t connect with most viewers. But the alienating nature of the premise is what makes it fascinating, pushing us to question how we want to be seen and experienced as people in the world. With all the constant demands of living, wouldn’t it be peaceful to sit still for a little while?

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Movie Reviews

Deva Movie Review: Shahid Kapoor Exudes High Octane Fire & Rage As A Flawed & Roguish Cop In This Engaging Thriller Flick!

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Deva Movie Review: Shahid Kapoor Exudes High Octane Fire & Rage As A Flawed & Roguish Cop In This Engaging Thriller Flick!

Deva Movie Review Rating:

Star Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Pooja Hegde, Pravesh Rana, Pavail Gulati, Kubbra Sait, Girish Kulkarni

Director: Rosshan Andrrews

Deva Movie Review Out (Photo Credit – Instagram)

What’s Good: Shahid Kapoor’s performance, background score, action sequences, an engaging first half.

What’s Bad: An underwhelming climax, the twist introduced in the end does not strike a chord, loopholes in the plot in the second half, and few supporting characters go underutilized.

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Loo Break: Even though the second half loses the momentum, we recommend the interval because of this one being an overall riveting thriller.

Watch or Not?: All the fans of Shahid Kapoor can certainly give this one a watch.

Language: Hindi

Available On: Theatrical release

Runtime: 156 minutes

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User Rating:

Rosshan Andrrews has probably managed to showcase Shahid Kapoor in his massiest avatar with Deva. The actor exudes swag and oodles of roguish charm, which also surpasses the machismo that he possessed in Kabir Singh. It is also a subtle ode to Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘Angry Young Man’ era, wherein he witnessed the flawed but fiery hero putting things into momentum in his own way.

The plot revolves around Deva Ambre (Shahid Kapoor), a far-from-perfect police officer who prefers to stick to his roguish and aggressive ways of handling a crime case. Having put his own father in jail, he battles his own inner demons, which makes it difficult for him to abide by the judicial rules and protocols. His only weakness is his friendships with his colleagues and childhood friends, Rohan D’silva (Pavail Gulati) and Farhan Khan (Pravesh Rana). He also falls in love with a crime journalist, Diya Sathaye (Pooja Hegde).

However, when a personal tragedy turns his life upside down, he realizes that there is a mole within the system. Just when he has uncovered the truth, Deva suffers a life-threatening accident that wipes out his memory. He must go to any lengths to unravel the truth again from the remnants of his past memory.

Deva Movie Review Out (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Deva Movie Review: Script Analysis

Deva has an engaging pace in the first half. Along with the protagonist’s character buildup, we are introduced to the police authorities trying to nab a dreaded gangster (Manish Wadhwa) and his entire nexus. However, it is soon hinted that there is a mole within the police system, which helps him stay one step ahead of the police.

Deva’s aggression and rage toward solving the case are showcased as a sharp contrast to the discipline and principles that his colleagues adhere to. The writing does not waste any time to accelerate the storyline of a police investigation after a tragedy occurs. The suspects, underlying secrets, and ulterior motives of the characters make the first half extremely interesting, keeping you hooked to the screens.

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However, it is the second half which falters. The plot twist leading to the climax appears to be very disoriented and does not strike the chord that you expect. It appears to be rather underwhelming after such a strong buildup in the second half. There is also a disconnect with Shahid’s performance, even though he manages to keep the energy high. There are also some loopholes which do not let you abide by the climax.

Deva Movie Review: Star Performance

Talking about the performances, Shahid Kapoor is an absolute treat to behold. He does immense justice to all the shades of his character, from the rowdy and flawed cop to a colleague sensitive about his friends, he delivers the varied aspects of this complex role flawlessly. There is a reason why this role takes the bar higher than Kabir Singh. The actor unleashes the required angst, fire, and ferocity in his performance and keeps the energy levels consistent.

Pravesh Rana and Pavail Gulati impress amongst the supporting star cast. However, Pooja Hegde, along with Girish Kulkarni and Kubbra Sait are heavily underutilized. A cameo appearance by veteran Marathi actor Upendra Limaye makes way for an entertaining watch.

Deva Movie Review Out (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Deva Movie Review: Direction, Music

The technical aspects of the Rosshan Andrrews directorial are top-notch. The cinematography and the production design add a fine catalyst to the plot. The background score by Jakes Bejoy, which plays the rap song ‘Marji Chaa Maalik’ keeps the adrenaline levels high, especially during the action sequences.

Deva Movie Review Out (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Deva Movie Review: The Last Word

Irrespective of the flawed second half, especially the climax, Deva is definitely one of Shahid Kapoor’s strongest works. The actor puts his heart and soul into this one, which is reflected in every frame. This promises to be a treat for all the die-hard fans of the actor.

3 star

Deva Trailer

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Deva released today on 31 January, 2025.

Share with us your experience of watching Deva.

Must Read: Azaad Movie Review: Ajay Devgn, Aaman Devgan & Rasha Thadani Starrer Is A Compelling Tale Of Loyalty, Rebellion & Courage; The Black Beauty Is The Cherry On Top!

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Sundance 2025: all the latest movie reviews and updates from the festival

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Sundance 2025: all the latest movie reviews and updates from the festival

A new year means a new Sundance Film Festival, and a fresh crop of promising original features that could go on to become awards season darlings in a few months. It might be hard to top last year’s festival where Dìdi, A Different Man, and I Saw the TV Glow all made strong showings. But with films like Atropia, Bubble & Squeak, and Didn’t Die on the roster, this year’s Sundance might just do the trick.

Naturally, The Verge is going to be taking in as much of Sundance as we can and posting bite-sized reviews of everything we see. We’ll also be posting longer reviews and sharing trailers, and you can follow along here to keep up with all of the news out of the festival.

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