"Brutally smart and original." That’s The Playlist quote used on the poster and in the new trailer for Cannes Film Festival hit “Force Majeure.” What’s it about? Well, it’s an observational comedy about a Swedish family that travels to the French Alps to enjoy a few days of skiing. Is that it? Nope. An avalanche causes a big disaster and the hasty decision the father makes will test the family’s resolve. It’s essentially a satirical look at the role of the male in modern family life.
“A biting satire that plays out with almost crystalline precision in the rarefied, thin-air environs of an upscale ski resort [‘Force Majeure’] took the coveted honor of being The Film We’d Heard Nothing About Prior That Gained So Much Buzz While There We Had To See It,” we wrote in our review. Here’s the official synopsis:
A critical favorite at this year’s Cannes Festival, where it took the Jury Prize in Un Certain Regard, this wickedly funny and precisely observed psychodrama tells the story of a model Swedish family—handsome businessman Tomas, his willowy wife Ebba and their two blond children—on a skiing holiday in the French Alps. The sun is shining and the slopes are spectacular but during a lunch at a mountainside restaurant an avalanche suddenly bears down on the happy diners. With people fleeing in all directions and his wife and children in state of panic, Tomas makes a decision that will shake his marriage to its core and leave him struggling to reclaim his role as family.
What’s more, Sweden has selected the movie to compete in this year’s Foreign Language Oscar category. Written and directed by Ruben Östlund, “Force Majeure” stars Johannes Kuhnke, Lisa Loven Kongsli, Clara Wettergren and Vincent Wettergren, and opens October 24th. The trailer looks pretty wry, so give it a watch it below.
