Unruly (2022)
A tough devastating watch about young women being robbed their freedom and self worth because society deemed them “unruly”. Deeply personal and phenomenally played by Emilie Kroyer Koppel in the leading role. While the movie is pretty much one-note and always pretty clear in what the viewer is supposed to think and feel, what I think sets it apart from many other movies about systematic abuse is that the surrounding framing looks pretty nice and peaceful. Colors are nice and warm. The setting is sunny and cozy. We see little outright physical abuse and the psychological abuse is well hidden behind otherwise nice and well meaning people with good intentions. A big reason for making this movie is to remember a disturbing practice with forced sterilization and tutelage of unruly young women that happened in Denmark 60-80 years ago, but while we thankfully have evolved as society since then, the movie is more than just a history lesson. It has something relevant to say about gender roles and norms. Along with A Perfectly Normal Family from 2020 Malou Reymann is really setting a name for herself in the Danish filmmaking scene.
Rating: 4