Acts of Love

Drawing inspiration from his own sister’s experiences in a religious community, Bridgend (2015) director Jeppe Rønde’s powerful drama chronicles a relationship that breaks with societal mores, while exploring tenets of faith and the religious institutions whose practices aren’t always in keeping with their teachings.

A young woman finds her life disrupted by the arrival of her sibling. As a member of a religious community that has shunned the modern world and exists in seclusion on the west coast of Denmark, she has learned to adapt to the orderly ways of community life. But the arrival of her brother immediately unsettles her – causing a change in behaviour that hasn’t gone unnoticed by the community’s leader. Recognising the sibling’s unresolved emotional trauma, he suggests that they undergo a therapeutic form of ritual, drawing both on their memories and religious teaching. But the close bond between the two not only threatens the pair’s psychological state, but disrupts the tranquility of this world.

Continuing in the tradition of Stations of the Cross (2014), Beyond the Hills (2012), Paradise: Faith (2012) and Breaking the Waves (1996), Jeppe Rønde’s drama explores the nature of belief and devotion in the modern world, while also grappling with the taboo topic of sibling love. As with his previous narrative feature Bridgend, which broached the sensitive topic of teen suicide, Rønde avoids sensationalism in favour of an intense portrait of his troubled protagonist and the world she has retreated to. 

– Ian Haydn Smith

Trailer

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