Lucas is a 40-year-old primary school assistant in small-town Sweden and is popular with children and staff alike. When one day a child makes an untrue claim about his behaviour, the accusation blazes, unstoppable, with inhabitants quick to lose reason.
As we witness the community disintegrate, audiences too begin to wonder about what we have seen, and the reality of the myriad relationships presented to us.
Shot in a confident, pared-down style, this is widely heralded as a return to Festen-like form for director Vinterberg, and features a series of knock-your-socks-off exchanges between actors Mads Mikkelsen as Lucas and Thomas Bo Larsen as the girl’s father and Lucas’ best friend. Powerful, resonant stuff.
