Trailer Insight:
The trailer for Armand is stunningly unsettling, beginning with the lovely note and gradually shifting to the harsh as the Scandinavian setting further puts things into perspective. The trailer opens with a scene in which Elisabeth (Renate Reinsve) is cutting off the light and covering her son Armand with the blanket affectionately, but this moment deteriorates as Berne’s school meetings mixed with suspicion replacement it. It pushes Elisabeth to assume the assaulting role of protecting her son whilst she herself is dealing with the shadow of uncertainty that the proceedings have cast over them all. The pulse raising music combined with the trailer going from quiet to mask shaking highs shows the dedicated flashes of Elisabeth’s worlds grappling with intense faceoffs, deafening silence, and sheer yearning for the truth.
Cast and Characters:
- Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World) as Elisabeth: A mother determined to defend her child while confronting her own inner demons.
- Ellen Dorrit Petersen (Blind) as Sarah: The anguished mother of Armand’s best friend, questioning her trust in Elisabeth.
- Øystein Røger (22 July) as Jarle: The school principal caught in the moral crossfire of conflicting narratives.
- Young debut actor as Armand: Portrays the innocent yet enigmatic child whose actions drive the story’s central conflict.
Synopsis:
The first sign that the unravelling dominoes begin to fall is the moment when Yelena gets a phone call from the school attended by Armand. Embryonic relationships of a mother dedicated to her imaginative son ‘Armand’ start quaking as Armand is accused of licking and inappropriately touching the private parts of his best friend. Elisabeth finds herself in a maze full of mistrust, shame and even more denial. Is Armand just a victim of insufficient understanding from adults who unnecessarily hover around him or is there sinister truth lurking under the innocent face?
As Elisabeth is increasingly met with the accusatory stares of her school community and the angst of her relationship with Sarah, there are particular elements of the past that begin to unravel and probably explain the current conflict. What starts as an intrichate plan designed of a mother to protect her son increasingly develops into a journey deeply embedded with the psyche where fact, truth and recollection begin making the journey.
The climax of the movie is characterized by extreme emotion and confrontation which were built up throughout the course of the movie. This meeting brings forth crucial questions of heat and burden on all the characters and to the audience as well, regarding reason and blame for corruption of innocence.
Why Watch It?
Reflecting on a film such as this brings to fore the difficulty of addressing such sensitive children issues, the role of schools, and the social urge to blame. Its critical acclaim received at Cannes demonstrates the significance and position it holds in today’s world of cinema, especially in the context of Scandinavian film industry.
