Loving Adults (2022)

Loving Adults (2022)

In Danish : Kærlighed for voksne
In French: Amour entre Adultes

A Danish drama film directed by Barbara Topsøe-Rothenborg and based on the novel ‘Till Death Do Us Part’ by Anna Ekberg, the pseudonym of the writing duo Anders Rønnow Klarlund and Jacob Weinreich. Klarlund and Weinreich had knew each other for years before realizing that they had a lot in common when it came to life experiences and storytelling.

Seen twice… but that’s more than enough! And why is that? Because from the very first minute of the film, you feel a sort of feeling for the cowardice to which you are subjected.

It’s a good film, but a little too exaggerated and far-fetched, though. It’s not relentlessly watchable. The fact that the three main characters are quite annoying plays a part. It’s not clear who’s the most detestable. You might also think that these actors play badly, but the opposite is true: it’s not easy being so annoying!

Sonja Richter is masterful and Dar Salim, who some of us have seen in the series ‘Borgen’ and ‘Game of Thrones’, makes us feel as uncomfortable as we could wish with the unease he exudes.

There are plenty of disturbing twists and well-crafted details, such as the scenes where the mother complains about the loyalty card at the petrol station. Nothing really happens as you’d expect in this umpteenth film about infidelity that has its own original features. There’s a shocking twist in the middle of the film, which you can guess before it happens, but which makes the revelation rather unsettling.

This feature could easily be described as diabolical. You wouldn’t want to meet this couple. As a result, we don’t know who to trust or who to be loyal to while watching, as they try to make us like the characters before showing us their odious secrets. The son, on the other hand, is pure and sympathetic. Let’s hope he doesn’t have all the genes of his parents!

Holger, the police commissioner, tells the story to his daughter. It’s a good idea, but of course you have to sort out the parts that are really told and the parts that the commissioner can’t possibly know.

Compared to Clouzot and even Hitchcock, the Danes come up with little treasures from time to time, like The Guilty (2018), which had its American remake in 2021.

OK, so there are inconsistencies. You can’t just wipe out all the DNA in an entire flat, or anywhere for that matter! You can’t just move out and pretend it never happened and start all over again with no remorse. Unless you’re psychopaths… which this film certainly seems to prove.

There was talk of a sequel. There would be plenty to do! Between the fact that the man could turn everything she’s taught him against his wife, in order to get revenge, or a story about the past. Create a prequel to find out more about this woman’s dark past.

Some people are wondering whether this film is based on a true story! Well… fortunately not… but, unfortunately, as always, we know that it could still inspire great criminals.

This film has generated a lot of interest around the world on Netflix. It is indeed worth watching. But it creates disgust.

3.5