Review: The Guest
In the tradition of Nordic dark humour, dysfunctional family chaos and cringe comedy, Danish filmmaker Mads Mengel is making his feature film debut with The Guest, which just world premiered in competition at the 60th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Despite the film’s familiar tonal feel, co-writers Christian Bengtson and Mengel ensure their main characters are sufficiently distinct in both their traumas and their preferences, allowing us to easily access their world. The story’s decidedly simple premise gives way to a decidedly full-bodied black dramedy with several unforgettable scenes.
Karl (Simon Bennebjerg) and Emilie (Mette Klakstein Wiberg) bring their young son to the seaside for a baptism party, only for the event be crashed by Karl’s estranged mother, Vibeke (Trine Dyrholm), who clearly wasn’t invited. Karl clashes with his older sister, Rikke (a deliciously staunch Josephine Park), who sees their mother’s unspecified mental illness in a more sympathetic light. Over the course of just a few days with his child, family and friends, Karl wavers between bringing her back into his life once again and refusing to do so, despite the potential consequences either way. Read the rest at Cineuropa