Hope
classified 15 SPlease note: This was screened in Dec 2021
The relationship between artist-partners Tomas (Stellan Skarsgård) and Anja (Andrea Bræin Hovig) is put to the test after Anja gets a life-threatening diagnosis, in this probing and affecting film from Maria Sodahl.
Over the years, Anja and Tomas have slowly grown apart, their creative careers taking them in different directions and leaving their relationship distant. Though surrounded by her children and family, when Anja receives a cancer diagnosis her life with Tomas begins to fracture, exposing years of neglected love. Alone with her grief and her fears, Anja realises that she needs his full help and support, and the two embark on a challenging but hopeful journey in which they discover themselves and each other anew.
A clear-eyed, adult love story about the sacrifices we’re sometimes called upon to make for those closest to us (it is based on the director’s own experience of being diagnosed with cancer), and a probing exploration of the frenzied, often obsessive, and atomised nature of contemporary life, Hope courageously asks us what we really consider important — and whether we can pursue our ambitions while living up to our ideals and obligations.