22/42
Norway’s official entry for the Best International Feature Film category at the 97th Academy Awards in 2025
Tale
Armand, a 6-year-old boy, is accused of overstepping boundaries with his best friend in elementary school.
Norway’s first feature film Halfdan Ullman Tønder, grandson of Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullman, is a part allegorical, part naturalistic analysis of 21st century parenting and education and its handling of an “unfortunate incident” between two 6-year-old boys
Renate Reinsve is the eccentric mother of Armand, the alleged perpetrator of the incident, and as she comes under scrutiny from her son’s teacher, the school administration, and the other boy’s parents, the film slowly spirals into an abyss – a limbo from which nothing good can come.
Ullman Tønder’s intention and position are strong, as is his artistic expression, which is clearly inspired by the works of his grandfather and perhaps to some extent by Kubrick
And although the narrative as such sometimes feels uneven and the film is unevenly edited, in many ways Armand is a return and homage to pure cinema, for which it should be praised.