queen of hearts (2019)

original title: Dronningen

A HEART-RACING DRAMA WHERE LOVE AND LOSS COLLIDE.

Every now and then a film comes along that makes you incredibly uncomfortable, it makes your stomach slowly churn as you witness such harrowing things unfold on the screen. Well, Queen of Hearts is one of those films, it was labeled one of the most controversial films of the year and it’s easy to see why. But, don’t take that as a negative remark because it’s actually the complete opposite. This really is one of the best films of 2019.

Centered around what seems to be the picture-perfect family, Queen of Hearts focuses mainly on the story of the mother, Anne (Trine Dyrholm), a brilliant and dedicated advocacy lawyer specialising in society’s most vulnerable, children and young adults. She has two daughters of her own with her husband Peter (Magnus Krepper) and their lives seem to be flawless, that is until Peter’s troubled stepson Gustav (Gustav Lindh) moves in with them. What follows is a disturbing tale of seduction, greed, sorrow, and innocence that is sure to shock audiences to the core.

From the opening scene, Queen of Hearts announces its slow pace which works perfectly with the film’s subject matter. Director May el-Toukhy does an exceptional job of maintaining a great deal of restraint before building up the tension that eventually explodes into pure chaos. What unfolds is incredibly uncomfortable, suffocating, and absurd but el-Toukhy’s style makes sure that we never take our eyes off what is happening on screen.

With a story such as this, that moves at such a slow pace you have to rely a lot on your cast to produce impeccable performances and luckily the cast here does exactly that. Trine Dyrholm is absolutely harrowing as a mother who jeopardizes both her career and family. She’s one of the most twisted protagonists I’ve witnessed on screen, her ability to switch from calm to furious and cold to vulnerable is astonishing. Credit must also go to Gustav Lindh who plays the wounded victim in all of this. His emotional performance hits you like a punch to the stomach and leaves you breathless long after the film is over. Magnus Krepper rounds off the solid performances with an energetic but at the same time draining performance as a man stuck in the middle of this disarray.   

The score is another highlight of the film and perfectly accompanies this harrowing tale. It’s an interesting technique as the score would be absent for long intervals then it would suddenly creep up on a scene with ominous foreboding. An eerie offbeat style that added an extra layer of disturbance to the film.

Queen of Hearts is not for the faint-hearted as it deals with some very uncomfortable topics which will make your stomach churn. But it’s an amazing work of art, a masterpiece in character study, and an intimate and reckless story that will leave you in complete shock.

★★★★☆

6 JUNE 2019