THE UNTHINKABLE

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres and OnDemand from writer/director Victor Danell, Crazy Pictures and Magnet Releasing is a story of invasion and survival with THE UNTHINKABLE.

Alex (Christoffer Nordenrot) is a young man living in Sweden with unstable father Bjorn (Jesper Barkselius) and mom Klara (Ulrika Backstrom). The only respite in his life is Anna (Lisa Henni), a young girl who has captured his heart and broke it when it was time for her to go away to school.

After a blow up with Bjorn, Alex packs up and leaves home to start a life on his own. In that life is music that has allowed him to travel and play the music he loves. Leaving one of his concerts, Alex hears on the radio that something is happening only to get out of his car and see explosions. He receives a telephone call to let him know that Klara has died.

Returning home for the funeral, Alex does not tell Bjorn about the event. He does see Anna once again and feelings he has kept hidden return. Bjorn is busy freaking out because he believes that there is going to be an invasion of their country. Of course, no one else believes his rantings but that does not stop him from gearing up for a fight he believes is only hours away setting traps at the power plant where he works.

As explosions continue, strange soldiers get closer to home! When the town is attacked, Alex, Anna and other towns folks gather up to go to the power plant. Bjorn is shocked to see his son after years of silence between them. Listening to transmissions, they learn that there is something in the rain that will change them all.

But now is not the time for a family reunion, it is a time to survive!

Nordenrot as Alex does not understand the disturbing emotions his father is dealing with. Instead, he sees how it has twisted the family and ruin relationships. Finding solace in his friendship with Anna, even that twists in a way that he can not deal with. Nordenrot give his character a deep sense of being family-torn emotionally and physically, which in turn makes him shut out anything that is unpleasant. Because of that, he can give off an air of instability.

Barkselius as Bjorn is a man who has his own demons, and it does not take much for them to get out of their cage. Part of him wants nothing more than to love and do right by his family and the dangerous part can snap in a second and turn on the same person he claims to love. When the years go by and he is alone because of his behavior, Bjorn gives his character an inside track to what an invasion looks like and how to keep the strange soldiers at bay!

Henni as Anna gives us the young girl who goes away to school leaving a heart broken Alex behind. I will not be giving anything away here but let me just say this, young love remains in hearts for a long time. Henni is amazing as her character will do anything to protect her family, and no one or nothing is going to stop her.

Other cast include Pia Halvorsen as Eva, Magnus Sundberg as Konny, Krister Kern as Kim, Karin Bertling as Farmor, Alexej Manvelov as Tholen, Yngve Dahlberg as Emil, Niklas Jarneheim as Morbror and Arvin Kananian as Sharokh.

Crazy Pictures is a film collective from Sweden, renowned for its acclaimed and spectacular short films on YouTube with millions of viewers and screened at film festivals around the world. The group works closely together and stands for all major roles such as director, producer, scriptwriter, director of photography, production design, costume design, sound design, visual effects and special effects.

Magnet Releasing is a part of Magnolia Pictures that specializes in films from the vanguard of horror, action, comedy, and Asian cinema. It is also the home of classics like Tomas Alfredson’s LET THE RIGHT ON IN, Ti West’s THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, Andre Ovredal’s TROLLHUNTER, Neil Marshall’s sword and sandals bloodbath CENTURION and Tony Jaa’s ONG BAK trilogy. Upcoming films include Ti West’s THE SACRAMENT and to find out more of what is to come please visit www.magnetreleasingfilms.com.

THE UNTHINKABLE is a story that pulls in all directions. First, it is a film about the dysfunction of a family because of the unresolved issues of a husband who clearly does not want to be as he is. The film is also about young love and how heart break brings on difficult decisions and some regret.

It is also a story of survival, especially when it is never clear who it is that is trying to destroy them. Then again, when you are trying to survive does it really matter who it is? I absolutely did not try to figure out who they were, only that they kept coming and kept coming in such a way that the tension is huge.

There is so much emotion and history going on that once the roller coaster stops, it takes time to take it all in!

In the end – they never thought it could happen!