FORCE MAJEURE – The Review

Think that only American families go on disastrous vacations? Well this new film from Sweden certainly disputes that notion. In writer/director Ruben Ostlund’s heart-wrenching drama, we’re introduced to a picture perfect family unit on “holiday” at a swanky ski resort up in the French Alps (they must be fairly well off to afford this little getaway). There’s handsome thirty-something dad Tomas (Johannes Kuhnke), lovely mom, Ebba (Lisa Loven Kongsil), big sister Vera (Clara Wettergren), and kid brother Harry (Vincent Wittergren). Speaking of pictures, when we first meet them, the resort’s photog is snapping some shots of them on the slopes. But it seems that mom and dad needs extra prodding from the cameraman to get closer. Later, when Ebba looks at the proofs, her smile fades as she comes to the pic of her and her hubby. They continue to ski away their days until “the incident” occurs during a lunch stop at an outdoor bistro. I won’t reveal anymore, so as to not spoil the film, but it may make you question your own eyes after viewing it. That night during an adult dinner with a couple they met in the resort lobby, Ebba relates the story. Tomas brushes it off when the guests feel the tension. On the way back to the room, Tomas and Ebba discuss it with Tomas believing that this misunderstanding is resolved. And just in time, since his old buddy Mats (Kristofer Hivju) has just arrived with his much younger girlfriend in tow. All is well, as the wine flows after Dinner. And then Ebba brings up “the incident” once more. And in painstaking detail, much to Tomas’s embarrassment, stunning the other couple. Although they try not to argue in front of the kids, Vera and Harry feel the tension and fear the worst: divorce. Is there any hope for this broken marriage to be repaired?

Ostlund has crafted a compelling tale of a relationship fraying at the seams and now about to unravel. The quiet, desolate beauty of the slopes at night should be a calming influence to the couple in crisis, but it only adds to their disconnect especially when the controlled avalanche cannons, whose barrels jut out from the mountain sides, blast and echo through the white canyons. The scenery’s impressive but the performances are the film’s heart, particularly Kongsil as the deeply conflicted matriarch, Ebba. In a conversation with another resort guest, Ebba grills her relentlessly and somewhat angrily about the woman’s open marriage. Is it envy or frustration? Perhaps it’s both a long with intense curiosity. The scene is only a warm up for the big showdown after Dinner with old friend Mats and his new lady. Her anger and anxiety erupt from her in unending flow, like lava from a raging volcano that refuses to abate. The guests can only stare in dumbfounded silence, unable to look away or divert the vocal soul cleanse. Kuhnke, as the recipient of her ire, can only look on in shame and confusion, as he realizes that “the incident” opened up a rift he was blithely unaware. He had dismissed her concerns earlier, but now he truly gets it, as if one wall of his life crumbles and buries him. But it doesn’t leave the witnesses unscathed. Hivju as Mat passionately attempts to defend his old pal, but soon finds himself under attack from his companion (some holiday!). But all vacations must end, and Ostlund concludes the journey on a note that is open to many interpretations. FORCE MAJEURE shows us that no matter how far you travel for a get away, your problems find you.

4 Out of 5

FORCE MAJEURE opens everywhere and screens exclusively in the St. Louis area at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinemas