Human nature, gender stereotypes, the bourgeoisie and selfish delusions are all put under the microscope in Ruben Ostlund’s nasty, funny and horribly believable drama. Married couple Tomas (Johannes Bah Kuhnke) and Ebba (Lisa Loven Kongsli) are on a luxury ski holiday with their two young children. Like the eerily blank but noticeably upscale décor of the resort, this nuclear family is picture-perfect; a model of upper-middle class heteronormative perfection. Until the fifth day of their holiday, that is, when a controlled avalanche goes awry, and begins to hurtle towards the family, only for Tomas to grab his gloves, his iPhone and run – leaving his wife and children to fend for themselves.
When the family emerge physically unscathed, they’re left to confront the giant fissure in their foundations, one which they initially attempt to paper over with polite civility.
As Tomas and Ebba’s relationship starts to unravel, their simmering resentment begins to spill over into the lives of those around them. Their children become hostile and cold, fearful that their parents’ obvious tension will lead to divorce. Another couple (Kristofer Hivju and Fanni Metelius) begin to question their own assumptions about gender, duty and instinct. And a woman who enjoys an open marriage becomes the target for Ebba’s rage and fear – she’s yet another threat to her ideals of marriage and family values, but unlike the avalanche, Ebba may be able to change her course.
Ostlund’s crisp and restrained direction echoes the characters’ emotional repression, and heightens both the dark comedy of Tomas’ self-indulgence and the dark truths left lingering around the family. The rigid camerawork and tight framing is an ironic reminder of how much is beyond our control, and how much we cannot see coming.