A seemingly perfect Swedish family spend a skiing holiday in a huge hotel in the French Alps. A good opportunity for the busy Tomas to spend quality time with his children – at least, so his wife Ebba thinks. Their different expectations quickly lead to tension. Then the family is almost engulfed in a massive avalanche. Instead of rescuing his wife and kids, Tomas saves his own skin first; his instinctive choice has great consequences for the rest of the holiday.
In this intelligent, spectacularly photographed film, director Ruben Östlund – who started his career by directing ski films – focuses, as he did in Involuntary (2008) and Play (2011), on human failings. With the precision of a brain surgeon, he pares away a number of myths about relationships and fatherhood; ‘civilized man’ suddenly appears very insignificant when confronted by insurmountable forces of nature. Not for nothing was this film given the international title Force Majeure.
Film details
- Countries of production
- France, Norway, Sweden
- Year
- 2015
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2015
- Length
- 118"
- Medium/Format
- DCP
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