7/10
Fascinating Nowegian film
29 March 2014
Jan Thomas Hansen (Pål Sverre Hagen) is in prison for killing a child during his teens. He is released on parole and finds work as a church organist. He befriends the priest Anna and her young son. His victim's mother Agnes (Trine Dyrholm) accidentally spots him in the church as his troubled past resurfaces to cause chaos.

It has a slow plodding pace for most of the movie. The lead is playing the quiet character very close to the vest. It doesn't allow much tension into the first half of the movie. When Agnes is put into the movie, it is a bit of ticking clock for the audience as we wait for the inevitable confrontation. The first half already lays out what is going to happen in much of the second half. Maybe it went one step too far by telling us that the boy goes missing. Nevertheless there is a realism in the performances by both leads. The movie gets much more fascinating with the two characters on the same screen.
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