'Force Majeure' Gets Toronto's First Raves
Okay, so Sweden’s cringingly perceptive marital drama Force Majeure technically made its big debut earlier this year at Cannes, where it quickly became a must-see (and an award-winner). But the film had its first Toronto International Film Festival press screening today, so those of us who couldn’t make the trek to France this spring can finally see if all the critics who dubbed it "brutally smart" and "visually stunning" were right.
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Turns out they weren’t lying: Everyone at Toronto is crazy about Force, the story of a Swedish husband-and-wife whose trip to an upscale ski resort becomes the occasion for a dark, funny, sometimes way-too-relatable referendum on their family and their marriage. Written and directed by Ruben Östlund (2011’s Play), and starring breakouts-to-be Lisa Loven Kongsli and Johannes Kuhnke as the feuding couple, Force recalls not only the way-too-insightful domestic dramas of Ingmar Bergman, but also the chilly aesthetics of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. That doesn’t make it sound like a lot of fun, but there’s plenty of stress relief along the way (much of it thanks to Kristofer Hivju, better known as Game of Thrones’ red-bearded wildling, Tormund Giantsbane).
Expect Force to pick up more attention — and a possible Oscar nomination — as it rolls out later this year.
