Force Majeure (Ruben Ostlund, 2014): Sweden | France | Norway | Denmark

Reviewed by Bryan Austin Gillison. Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival 2016.

From the very beginning of Force Majeure it is clear that we are looking at what Hollywood would have us believe is the picture perfect family, the ideal nuclear family that has wealth and leisure time. The opening scene displays the “happy” family posing awkwardly for a photo in front of the remote ski resort in which they have chosen to spend their holiday. The photographer is put in the position of teaching the family to look happy, engaged, and involved with one another. The viewer is left with a strong impression that this is a dysfunctional family dynamic. What follows is a chilling and suspenseful dissection of gender roles and hero complexes that cut straight to our most primal instincts.

The film has a slow, meandering pace, which lends well to the suspense and simmering madness that sets in amongst each member of the family after a brush with death one day. While they are at lunch at an outdoor restaurant at the ski resort, an avalanche consumes the patio, and the patriarch of the family makes a decision that will shake the family to its core. We are confronted with the darkness of the fight or flight mechanisms deep in each of us. Force Majeure is about a man and his family dealing with the repercussions of performed masculinity and gender expectations in modern society.
The film is haunting and beautiful, and it communicates well both the expanse of such a resort as well as its isolation. The cinematography has a painterly quality. The movie is atmospheric and uses the winter storms and cannon shots on the mountains to create a sense of impending doom.  Mirroring the spiral downward we all witnessed in The Shining, Force Majeure more than anything is about the fragility of the human psyche. Johannes Kuhnke’s performance ranges from a silent simmer to the very depths of despair. The film is masterful in its slow methodical build, and it makes a powerful statement about the hardships of being a leader or a head of a family. It is unassuming and gives space for the viewers to decide for themselves exactly what to take from it. This film about gender, insecurity, cowardice, and the human spirit is no puff piece. You must be ready to look the abyss in the eyes and decide what kind of man or woman you are.