In a Better World

Year: 2010

Actors: Mikael Persbrandt, Kim Bodnia, Trine Dyrholm, Paw Henriksen

Duration: 118 min

Anton, his 10-year-old son Elias, and Elias' new best friend Christian are involved in three separate incidents which ultimately question the morality of similar retaliation to physical bullying and other such acts of physical violence. When not trying to be father to Elias and younger son Morten or trying to patch up his disintegrating marriage to his physician wife Marianne in their coastal Danish hometown, Anton, a Swede who is also a physician, works at an African refugee camp, which is surrounded by brutal acts, especially against pregnant women, by a local kingpin. Christian and his father Claus have just moved back to the Danish town, where Claus grew up, following the death of Claus' wife from cancer. Christian blames his father and the world in general for his mother's death. Soon after his arrival to the town, Christian witnesses the systemic bullying of Elias by an older, bigger student named Sofus and Sofus' thugs. Being Elias' new friend, Christian also becomes Sofus' target. Christian decides there is only one way to stop the bullying. In another incident, Anton stops a fight between Morten and another young boy which results in Lars, the other boy's father, physically assaulting Anton in front of Elias and Christian. Anton refuses to fight back, believing that physical retribution would bring him down to Lars' level, despite both Elias and Christian believing that Anton showed Lars nothing in his passivity. Back in Africa, the local kingpin comes into the refugee camp with his militia, asking for potentially life-saving medical assistance. Anton must decide whether to help him, which is made more difficult by the kingpin's uncompromising attitude that his acts of violence against the women are justified.—Huggo

Genre: Action   Drama   Romance