what are you talking about
A seemingly ordinary summer in Denmark, when a political decision changes everything: in order to avoid an irreversible natural disaster, the country must be evacuated before it is completely flooded. The Danish people are scattered, leaving behind abandoned houses, schools and streets.
While families and friends are separated, in an instant, nothing has a price, fortunes change, and luck favors only a few exiles. Laura, a high school student who is about to graduate, will see her life change forever.
is it worth watching
An acclaimed Danish director who shines in Europe as much as the rest of the world, Thomas Vinterberg is known for his relentless and striking work, often focusing on intimacy, family and friends amidst drama, horror and despair.
The general public knows his work for films such as The Hunt, Festen, The Community and Drunk, for which he won many awards, including the Academy Award for Best Director and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
The collaboration with CANAL+ was therefore a natural co-production for the very first series by Thomas Vinterberg, after the encrypted channel worked with other famous filmmakers such as Xavier Dolan for La Nuit, where Laurier Gaudreault woke up, and Xavier Giannoli for The Money and Blood.
About a potential disaster… What if?
Families like us is a long-standing project for Thomas Vinterberg, born seven years ago during his stay in Paris, before the global pandemic and the resurgence of geopolitical conflicts. If this idea seemed “crazy” at the time, according to the people who applied to it, it is more relevant today than ever.
The screenwriter and director imagine an ecological disaster that is both likely and devastating in the near future: rising water levels that will submerge Denmark and erase the country from the world map. This crisis will affect the entire population, who have no choice but to follow the government’s directive. You have to evacuate, escape and leave your life in order to emigrate elsewhere.
In this series, Thomas Vinterberg confronts us with a possibility that we don’t think about, despite the human tragedies that TV news, social networks and media show us every day, and forces us to ask ourselves this question: “What if it were coming?” “
Without any moralizing or political agenda, the Danish screenwriter and director shakes up the preconceived ideas of privileged countries about the migrant crisis and forces us to face a reality that is far from us, but very palpable for thousands of other families around the world. Relevance and painful authenticity.
A tragic intimate drama with a glimmer of hope
If the catastrophic context provides a realistic framework and a clear context, families like ours are more concerned with its impact than its functioning, as its slogan suggests: “Country fades, feelings remain.”
The series makes us follow several characters who are members of different families or related, who try their best to cope with administrative formalities, secret escapes, separations, attacks, political rejection and threats.
Some of them will overcome it, others will change their lives and classes in different host countries. As in his previous works, Thomas Vinterberg manages to insert the desire for life and love into the greatest tragedies thanks to a writing that avoids Manichaeism and that clearly reflects the diversity of the human spirit, sometimes making logical decisions.
The series format allows families like ours to really take the time to connect with this family and punctuate the story with multiple twists and turns that make or break the heart.
The episodes put us in constant stress and growing fear until the vivid finale, which contrasts with a country devoid of souls elsewhere with hearts full again, as well as teenage Laura (Amaryl August, Absolute), the protagonist of the story and a new figure. A generation we want to look up to.
The first two episodes of “Families Like Us” air tonight on CANAL+ and are available on myCANAL. The rest of the series will air in two episodes on Monday evenings.
Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
