Honestly, I am not a film critic or a movie buff, and probably not even a cinema lover. Therefore, I will not write anything about the director — Rune Denstad Langlo, his works, the cast, or Scandinavian cinema in general. I haven’t watched much, and besides, I rarely like films, and this is not my way of inventing or writing off something. What I can say for sure, that after watching the film, I had a desire to continue studying the works of this director.
«Seizure (Besatt)» is the first TV series in four years that I didn’t quit after watching half or oversleeping. I also wanted to share the movie with some of my friends. However, the trailer does not match the film a penny! It feels like it was made by people who have nothing to do with the film. Nevertheless, as it say: “Every cloud has a silver lining” and I decided to write a small movie review.
The trailer says that the film is «action-packed», and even a «thriller» … I probably just don’t know what is an «action-packed Scandinavian thriller» is. The characters talk in an action-packed way, drink coffee, drive a car at a speed of 65 km/h in a very action-packed way, or cook soup… However, they shot a little (three times) and even rolled over in the car once, ran a little, got wet, swam and stuff like that. Thriller — probably because the eels that swim and crawl at the crime scenes can scare someone a lot.
Picture from the Film
Nevertheless, the film, as they say, is «atmospheric» and very specific. It’s great to fall asleep under gloomy, evening-twilight and cloudy shots. And, to be honest, I started to fall asleep, but very soon something began to pull on my spiritual strings and ruffle my nerves.
The film is a detective story, but teenagers death investigation, becomes the background, merges with personal experiences. Digging into one’s own souls, analyzing one’s sins, committed in the past, develops at first in parallel with the investigation of the case, and then intertwines.
All dreams and visions are a reflection of this inner, spiritual struggle. Both heroes have committed mistakes or crimes in the past that affect them and investigation in the present. It can be demons influence, which, according to information from the professor of Religion from the second series, move into a person when he commits a serious sin. This echoes the title of the movie.
Only Asha, the wife of detective Max Sorensen, is sinless here. The black woman Asha made a career and did not pay any attention to her son. This did not cause her any problems neither with feelings nor with the law. Unlike, for example, the poor and lonely white mother Thea Andersen, who was almost deprived of parental rights just for calling as a witness! On the contrary, Asha works as a teacher at a local institute, and her and Max’s child dies due to an oversight of the father.
Whether this was a hint from the authors or they just had to add the main character — a black, independent and, of course, positive woman in everything, is not clear. To be fair, Asha failed the two tasks she performed in this film. In the first case, she accused the innocent; in the second, she acquitted the guilty.
A very interesting issue of the film is relationships with loved ones, with a handicapped brother and a mentally ill son, an infallible wife. All these questions, as well as the fight against demons, interested me very much.
And, if not the boys, drowned at the beginning, if not them, not this sacrifice, then the sins would remain unredeemed, and the demons would not be defeated.
The movie is definitely worth downloading and watching! But those who want to find a classic police detective will be severely disappointed. This is not just a detective story, but a psychological drama. And this drama is not for everyone, it is necessary that the events and experiences of the film’s characters intersect with the viewer’s personal past experience — his «demons». But even if the film does not touch any spiritual strings, you can at least fall asleep well and soundly under it!
In defense of eels. This «analogue of a snake» and «symbol of evil» turned out to be a very interesting member of the ichthyofaunal. As an avid aquarist and fisherman, I wanted to put this in an aquarium, at least for a year!