Helvede, if it isn’t another cool Danish movie? Loving Adults is a refreshing crime thriller featuring a healthy amount of black humor. It follows a successful businessman, Christian, who’s having trouble getting out of his marriage. The whole movie is told from the perspective of a homicide detective reminiscing about that one case that stayed with him. So, you already know some heavy shit is about to go down. Moreover, shit hits the fan during the opening scene. And then we go back in time to see what led to it and forward in time to see what’s going to happen afterward. This storytelling structure may seem a bit complex now but trust me when I say it’s perfectly comprehensible.
The story and the atmosphere reminded me of all those eighties erotic thrillers that once ruled the subgenre. Oddly enough, I think that the most popular one, Basic Instinct killed the genre. And just to be perfectly clear, the movie we’re talking about today, is not an erotic thriller. Despite somewhat bizarre and macabre situations, it remains rooted in reality. And some of the scenes are going to hit harder than others. For example, while Christian and his wife Leonora are trying to fall asleep late one night, his phone rings. Apparently Christian has received a message from someone at this ungodly hour. And he says to her, “it’s someone from work”…
Full of twists, excellent performances, and authentic characters, Loving Adults is a movie worth watching. The pacing is steady and the production values are excellent. Since this is a Danish movie, it also has that special Euro charm. We’re able to see how people live in Denmark. Well, wealthy people, at least. Their house looks so modern and sleek and yet I wouldn’t like living in it. I watched too many horror movies to live in a house that’s located on the outskirts of a small town. No matter how nice it is. I guess living in a big apartment block my whole life has changed my perspective somewhat. Moving on, I urge you to watch this movie with the original Danish audio.
If I hate something, it’s dubbing. It takes away not only the refreshing and exotic nature of the experience but it’s also oftentimes of poor quality. If you choose the original audio, you will be able to not just see but also hear how good of a performances Dar and Sonja gave. Yes, this is another Dar Salim movie, a guy who’s been really busy lately. You might remember him from Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant, Black Crab, and the 2017 revenge thriller Darkland. Sonja Richter was just as good and I would also like to mention Morten Burian, who plays Dar’s boss. Mostly because he was in another, much weirder Danish movie, Speak No Evil.
Both of these movies will hit almost the same levels of tension. And since you don’t know and can’t predict where the story is going, time will fly. Add to this a reasonable running time of 100 minutes and you got yourself a movie you can watch any day of the week. The dialogues were excellent and they will instantly immerse you into this family drama. A family drama you’ll be happy is not happening to you. The narration that sometimes emerges to further explain what’s going on also helps with the immersion. After all, this is a movie based on a novel.
Loving Adults is available for streaming on Netflix and is actually the first Netflix original from Denmark. And I certainly hope not the last. It was just so damn refreshing and captivating that I can’t wait for the next one. In the meantime, you can check out a bit darker Australian neo-noir thriller The Square. It follows another construction expert with marital problems.
Director: Barbara Topsøe-Rothenborg
Writers: Anna Ekberg, Anders Rønnow Klarlund, Jacob Weinreich
Cast: Dar Salim, Sonja Richter, Sus Wilkins, Mikael Birkkjær, Katinka Lærke Petersen, Morten Burian
Fun Facts: Loving Adults is movie based on the novel “Kærlighed for voksne” by Anna Ekberg.
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IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14592948/
