While it ultimately walked away without a prize, Erik Poppe’s U – July 22 was perhaps the most talked-about Competition title at this year’s Berlinale. Its very premise proved contentious – the film is an unflinching single-take reenactment of the 2011 Utøya massacre, in which far-right terrorist Anders Behring Breivik murdered 69 attendees at a Workers’ Youth League summer camp. To Poppe’s credit, the project was developed in consultation with some of the survivors, and has received the blessing of others. And crucially, the filmmaker takes great pains not to perpetuate the myth of the perpetrator – Breivik is never named and is only briefly glimpsed, with the focus instead placed squarely on the ordeal of his targets. And yet, the film is so effective as a pulse-pounding, ghoulishly entertaining Battle Royaleesque thriller, it’s hard to shake the suspicion that Poppe is attempting to have his cake and eat it. In particular, the tasteful restraint he exhibits with regards to on-screen violence is seriously undermined by a sensationalised final sequence. U - July 22 is extremely well-crafted, but tough to recommend unconditionally.
U - July 22 (Utøya 22. Juli) | Directed by Erik Poppe (Norway 2018) with Andrea Berntzen, Brede Fristad. Starts September 20
Check our OV search engine for showtimes.
