Toni Erdmann wasn’t the first film to skewer corporate culture, but the epic-length comedy struck a chord with many for how it used a fish-out-of-water conceit to rupture the rigid, dehumanizing nature of that world. It’s likely the first movie that comes to mind watching The Hypnosis, a similarly high-concept tale aimed at deconstructing the social conventions of the boardroom, and whether the pursuit of professional success is of greater concern than maintaining close relationships with loved ones. It proves so similar in thematic interests that I began to imagine an enterprising movie producer buying the rights to the screenplay, giving it a few tweaks, and attempting to make it as “2-ni Erdmann”––although, admittedly, seeing Sandra Hüller experiencing bizarre side effects after an experimental treatment to quit smoking would make for the oddest comedy sequel this side of Weekend at Bernie’s II.
Ernst De Geer’s cringe-com follows André and Vera,...
Ernst De Geer’s cringe-com follows André and Vera,...
- 9/29/2023
- by Alistair Ryder
- The Film Stage
Norwegian cinema has been enjoying a moment lately, what with Joachim Trier’s crowdpleasing The Worst Person in the World pulling up to Drive My Car in the Oscar race and Kristoffer Borgli’s Sick of Me carving out a rep on the festival circuit. The Hypnosis, Ernst de Geer’s feature debut, sits somewhere between the two of them, fashioning a fitfully funny relationship drama that tilts at some very modern windmills within a framework similar to Kristian Levring’s 2008 Danish drama Fear Me Not, in which a man’s personality changes after he becomes addicted to an experimental drug. The Hypnosis doesn’t quite follow that film’s melodramatic course, but there are similar thoughts raised about the human mind.
The two leads are André (Herbert Nordrum) and Vera (Asta Kamma August), a young middle-class couple who are launching...
The two leads are André (Herbert Nordrum) and Vera (Asta Kamma August), a young middle-class couple who are launching...
- 7/9/2023
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
There are certain moviegoers who can face onscreen murders, maimings and the grisliest of mutilations and scarcely bat an eyelid, but who feel every cell in their body die a little whenever a character is rude in a restaurant. If you happen to suffer from this condition, consider yourself warned about Swedish director Ernst De Geer’s feature debut “The Hypnosis” — a witty, incisive satire on the modern obsession with self-actualization, which is also, to those of us with heightened sensitivity to social awkwardness, 98 masochistic minutes of second-hand squirm. Many’s the film offered up as evidence for Roger Ebert’s often quoted assertion that cinema is “a machine for creating empathy”; fewer are the titles, like this one, that make one question if that’s necessarily a good thing.
Vera (Asta Kamma August) is carefully rehearsing her English-language pitch opener for Epione, a noble-sounding app that does something or...
Vera (Asta Kamma August) is carefully rehearsing her English-language pitch opener for Epione, a noble-sounding app that does something or...
- 7/6/2023
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
"You mean we now have two murders to solve?" Topic has unveiled a new US trailer for a Swedish crime series titled Agatha Christie's Hjerson, available to watch starting in December. This already premiered in Sweden last year, but is only making its way to US streaming services this fall. Agatha Christie's Hjerson is the first ever adaptation based on the fictional detective of Christie's fictional writer Ariadne Oliver; a playful, meta contemporary whodunnit from the producers of Midsommar and Before We Die. It follows the former criminal investigator Sven Hjerson who has previously involved in solving some of Sweden's most difficult cases of all time. For a few years now, he has retired from the limelight and now lives far under the radar. A life fraught with daily routines, vegan diet, dedicated vinyl collecting and an absolutely incredible love of gossip. He returns for a true crime show, only to discover a real murder.
- 11/18/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Mikael Marcimain’s follow-up to award-winning Call Girl to open Swedish festival.
The Stockholm International Film Festival has revealed that Mikael Marcimain’s Gentlemen will open its 25th edition (Nov 5-16).
The adaptation of Klas Östergren’s eponymous novel will also compete in the Stockholm Xxv Competition section, and is nominated for the best film Bronze Horse Award.
The film centres on a young novelist who discovers the story of a lifetime when his host - a bon vivant and possible spy with friends in high places - reveals the existence of a conspiracy by Europe’s ultra-wealthy elite, who are secretly remodelling the continent to serve their own sinister needs.
The cast features David Dencik, David Fukamachi Regnfors, Ruth Vega Fernandez and Sverrir Gudnason.
Marcimain’s previous feature, Call Girl, opened Stockholm in 2012 where it won the audience award and went on to win the Fipresci prize at Toronto, where [link=tt...
The Stockholm International Film Festival has revealed that Mikael Marcimain’s Gentlemen will open its 25th edition (Nov 5-16).
The adaptation of Klas Östergren’s eponymous novel will also compete in the Stockholm Xxv Competition section, and is nominated for the best film Bronze Horse Award.
The film centres on a young novelist who discovers the story of a lifetime when his host - a bon vivant and possible spy with friends in high places - reveals the existence of a conspiracy by Europe’s ultra-wealthy elite, who are secretly remodelling the continent to serve their own sinister needs.
The cast features David Dencik, David Fukamachi Regnfors, Ruth Vega Fernandez and Sverrir Gudnason.
Marcimain’s previous feature, Call Girl, opened Stockholm in 2012 where it won the audience award and went on to win the Fipresci prize at Toronto, where [link=tt...
- 9/9/2014
- ScreenDaily
The Toronto International Film Festival announced more selections Tuesday for the upcoming 2014 edition of the annual awards season kick-off. The majority of the festival's program was announced last month, but this group includes intriguing world premieres from notable directors such as Todd McCarthy ("The Cobbler") and Gina Prince-Bythewood ("Beyond the Lights"). A number of the titles revealed have screened at other festivals including the underrated "Infinitely Polar Bear" and "Laggies" from Sundance as well as Cannes players "Two Days, One Night," "The Search" and "Clouds of Sils Maria." And yes, the presence of "Sils Maria," which is a favorite of this particular writer, means Kristen Stewart will likely hit one of the festival's many red carpets. As you'd expect for Toronto, the world premieres feature some big names including Josh Hutcherson and Benicio Del Toro in "Escobar: Paradise Lost," Jean Dujardin in "The Connection (La French)," Dustin Hoffman in "Boychoir,...
- 8/12/2014
- by Gregory Ellwood
- Hitfix
The 2014 Toronto Film Festival, which begins Sept. 4, added seven Galas and 17 Special Presentations to its lineup, including a semi-serious Adam Sandler project from Tom McCarthy, the director of The Station Agent and The Visitor. In The Cobbler, Sandler plays a man who has the unique ability to walk in his customers’ shoes. The movie features Dustin Hoffman, who also stars in Boychoir, François Girard’s tale of an orphan’s steep learning curve at a prestigious music school. In Welcome to Me, Kristen Wiig plays a mentally unstable woman who wins the lottery and decides to sink her winnings into a talk show.
- 8/12/2014
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
Expect to see a bevy of stars on the red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival this September. Today, more Gala and Special Presentation titles were announced, with some star-studded projects in the mix. Now, Escobar: Paradise Lost, starring Benicio del Toro as the infamous drug lord, will have its world premiere at Tiff, as will The Forger, with John Travolta, Christopher Plummer and Tye Sheridan.
Other promising projects newly announced to be screening at Tiff are Win Win director Thomas McCarthy’s The Cobbler, which finds Adam Sandler taking on a rare dramatic role; Clouds of Sils Maria, which stars Juliette Binoche as an aging actress who confronts the young starlet (Chloe Grace Moretz) taking on the role that made her famous decades earlier; and Gemma Bovery, starring Gemma Arterton as the sensual object of a French food critic’s affection. Check out the full list of new...
Other promising projects newly announced to be screening at Tiff are Win Win director Thomas McCarthy’s The Cobbler, which finds Adam Sandler taking on a rare dramatic role; Clouds of Sils Maria, which stars Juliette Binoche as an aging actress who confronts the young starlet (Chloe Grace Moretz) taking on the role that made her famous decades earlier; and Gemma Bovery, starring Gemma Arterton as the sensual object of a French food critic’s affection. Check out the full list of new...
- 8/12/2014
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
The 39th Toronto International Film Festival added another seven Galas and 17 Special Presentations to its September fest lineup running September 4 to 14. Here are the newcomers:
Galas
Boychoir François Girard, USA World Premiere
An orphaned 12-year-old boy is sent to prestigious music school where he struggles to join an elite group of world-class singers. No one expects this rebellious loner to succeed, least of all the school’s relentlessly-tough conductor who wages a battle of wills to bring out the boy’s extraordinary musical gift. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates, Josh Lucas, Kevin McHale, Eddie Izzard, Debra Winger and Garrett Wareing.
The Connection (La French) Cédric Jimenez, France/Belgium World Premiere
Marseille, 1975. Pierre Michel, a young police magistrate with a wife and children, has just been transferred to help crack down on the city’s organized crime. He decides to take on the French Connection, a Mafia-run operation that exports heroin all over the world.
Galas
Boychoir François Girard, USA World Premiere
An orphaned 12-year-old boy is sent to prestigious music school where he struggles to join an elite group of world-class singers. No one expects this rebellious loner to succeed, least of all the school’s relentlessly-tough conductor who wages a battle of wills to bring out the boy’s extraordinary musical gift. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates, Josh Lucas, Kevin McHale, Eddie Izzard, Debra Winger and Garrett Wareing.
The Connection (La French) Cédric Jimenez, France/Belgium World Premiere
Marseille, 1975. Pierre Michel, a young police magistrate with a wife and children, has just been transferred to help crack down on the city’s organized crime. He decides to take on the French Connection, a Mafia-run operation that exports heroin all over the world.
- 8/12/2014
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline
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