Director Thomas Vinterberg and actor Mads Mikkelsen return home to familiar ground and to each other after international projects with Another Round. Martin (Mikkelsen) is a high school History teacher stuck in a rut along with his three friends also fellow teachers Peter (Lars Ranthe) Tommy (Thomas Bo Larson) and Nikolaj (Magnus Millang). The friends meet for dinner to celebrate Nikolaj's fortieth birthday and decide to put Finn Skarderud theory to the test. Humans are 0.05% below the natural blood alcohol content. The pact is to keep at that level (0.05% BAC) all day long and with it should come self confidence and joy in what they are doing by being more relaxed and posed.
Things start out well, Martin is more focused at class he is giving relevant examples to his history class. Peter finds other ways to connect with his music class trying new ideas to get them to focus on being a part of the collective. Tommy sees gains in his tyke football (soccer) team especially inspiring a fragile player nicknamed specks. The screw begins to turn when the quartet ups their alcohol content. Martin turns up obviously drunk unsteady on his feet. Alcohol is found hidden in the gym storage room and Nikolaj finds himself in constant battles with his wife over his three kids.
Vinterberg explores a topic that has been broached by many with justifications such as taking the edge off or liquid courage or the more term of functioning alcoholic being used to justify the behaviour. As the four continue their experiment they distinguish themselves from being true alcoholics. Nikolaj proclaims that they decide when they want to drink while an alcoholic can't help themselves. Nikolaj points to pianist Klaus Heerfordt who always performed at that sweet spot between being sober and drunk. As they listen to one of his pieces they decide to push on.
The four leads all bring something to the production. Mads Mikkelsen the headliner does a lot with his role from being indifferent in the start, to finding his groove in the early phases of the experiment to imploding then getting it back as the friends head towards oblivion. Look for his Baryshnikov type dance routine which is one of the most joyous moments on film this year. Vinterberg regular and serial Mikkelsen co-star Thomas Bo Larsen turns in a strong performance as Tommy. He is the senior member of the crew but appears to be the one that needs this experiment the most. As with other instances of unsupervised extreme experimentation, there's often at least one member of the control group that is not able to pull which can lead to tragic consequences as the grounds are fertile for it to occur here.
**** Out of 4.
Another Round | Thomas Vinteberg | Denmark | 2020 |115 Minutes.
Tags :Milestone Birthday, Finn Skarderud, 0.05%, BAC, High School Teachers, Imperia Vodka, Confidence, Poise, Day Drinking, Sazerac, Oblivion, In Demark I Was Born.
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