Trine Dyrholm is outstanding as a liberal-minded lawyer who has a predatory affair with her stepson in May el-Toukhy’s excellent Danish drama
There’s a core of steel to this very enthralling and glossy movie from Danish-Egyptian director and co-writer May el-Toukhy. It’s exactly the kind of drama that might prove binge-worthily addictive if it was a three- or four-part series on a streaming platform. As a standalone feature film, it had me on the edge of my seat.
Trine Dyrholm gives a terrific performance in the sophisticated and sexually candid style that she does so well. (Watching a previous film of hers, The Commune, I found myself thinking of the steamy 70s TV show Bouquet of Barbed Wire; the same thought occurred to me now.) Dyrholm is Anne, an accomplished lawyer who is currently acting for the victim in a rape case; she is impeccably liberal and enlightened in the matter of sexual politics. Anne is married to a doctor, Peter (Magnus Krepper), and they have two charming twin girls, but their picture-perfect life has something emotionally stagnant in it.