Babycall (2011)QuickRating: This Swedish horror thriller feels a bit muddled at times, and the subplots don't fit together as neatly as they should, but what makes "Babycall" effective, gripping and disturbing is Noomi Rapace's brilliantly intense and vulnerable portrayal of a confused, paranoid and mentally disturbed mother. Plus, director Sletaune maintains an eerie atmosphere throughout the film, and the twist ending, while hardly satisfactory, works well.
20 comments:
This is actually a Norwegian film, even though I can understand why you would think it's Swedish, since Noomi Rapace, who is Swedish, plays the lead and speaks Swedish during the whole film. But the thing with this one is that she has moved from Sweden to Oslo, the capital of Norway, to get away from a violent husband.
Anyways, I've seen this film and I thought it was quite good, although it reminded me a lot of another film with Noomi in the lead titled Daisy Diamond, which is actually a danish film where she has moved to Denmark. Although this one is a thriller/horror flick and the other one is a drama, the single-mother abused-woman role is pretty much identical.
I liked Daisy Diamond a bit better.
Dammit...you have to feed my Noomi Rapace fetish, don't you? Now that I've been made aware of this film, I'm going to have to see it. Excellent review!
Hans, it's actually a Norwegian-Swedish co-production, I know that the director is A Norwegian, and that the film takes place in Oslo, but since Noomi is Swedish and the language is Swedish to, I consider this film to be more Swedish than Norwegian. I'm familiar with the capital cities of Europe, but thanks for the mention anyway. ;)
I've heard of Daisy Diamond, but still haven't seen it. I actually liked this one a lot - it was bleak, moody and great!
M. Hufstader, I know you're a huge fan of Noomi. And so am I. ;) She was amazing in this one... probably her best performance since the Millennium trilogy. You NEED to see Babycall. It's very, very effective.
Well, yeah, good point :)
anyway, speaking of Swedish films, have you seen Sound of Noise, which recently opened in USA? I thought that was a pretty cool picture.
Hans ;)
I've seen many Scandinavian films, but I wasn't familiar with Sound of Noise up until now. I trust your recommendation and I'll check it out as soon as I can. ;)
Any cool horrors you can recommend to me as well?
I can't say that I've watched many Scandinavian horror movies lately. Actually, I can't think of a Scandinavian horror film I've seen since Dead Snow and Rare Export and now Babycall. oh and Trollhunter, but I see that you reviewed that already.
But if I can suggest an old one that I love, it would definitely be Nattevagten (aka Nightwatch) by Ole Bornedal in 1994. And I don't mean the Hollywood remake (which btw also was directed by Ole Bornedal) with Nick Nolte among others, which was pretty bad.
And this just came to mind. Someone recently suggested that I watched the Icelandic horror "Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre", which I haven't gotten around to watching yet.
Hans, yep I've reviewed all of these and some others too. LOL.
I'll look for Nightwatch then. The title by itself sounds promising enough.
I was wondering, have you traveled around Europe or you prefer to stay on the islands?
As for "Reykjavik Whale Watching Massacre", avoid it at all costs. It's a dreadful horror movie, and I don't mean that in a good way. :)
No, I can't say that I've traveled a lot. To tell you the truth, the only country I've visited outside of Scandinavia is Scotland :) I lived in Denmark for 5-6 years, but even then I didn't travel much.
Hans, I'm not much of a traveler either. And the reason I'm not is because I'm terrified of flying. Like TRULY terrified. Well, I've been to Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia, but that's nothing.
Once I was quite obsessed with everything Scandinavian, especially the people, but now knowing there's not a chance I'm visiting one of these countries, I try not to be that excited about all that. :)
A friend of mine lives in Copenhagen and he loves it.
where are you from, btw?
Yeah, Copenhagen is a great city. I lived just outside of Copenhagen back then. My daugther, who is visiting as we speak, still lives there with her mom.
Make a guess. :)
Your daughter? Wow, I thought you're like 25 or something. You look rather young. :)
Well, I would be guessing USA, but you said that English wasn't your first language, so I really don't know.
Yeah, my oldest daughter will be 11 next month. I am 34 myself.
I wish I was, but no... I'm from Bulgaria. Have you heard of my country before? It's a post-communist country in South-Eastern Europe.
Well, I must say you look great for your age. Not that 34 is much, but..
I turned 30 recently. :)
yeah, sure I've heard about Bulgaria. I know some people from the faroe islands who've traveled there.
I just watched a bulgarian film the other day. It was called The Island. I don't remember the directors name right now. I heard about the film, because it had danish actor Thure Lindhardt in the leading role. Sadly, I didn't like the film.
Thanks for the compliment, btw, and I can only say the same about you :)
Hans, glad you have. :) They probably visit our country because of our Black Sea coast. Many Scandinavians spend their holidays here. ;)
No wonder you didn't like it. I hate pretty much every single one of our films - they're all lame with a capital L. Letitia Casta was also in it, but so what? It was still dumb. LOL.
You're welcome, Hans. When I worked in one of our sea resorts /it was a long time ago/ I noticed than many Scandinavians look a lot younger than they actually are, and you're no exception. :) Good for you, and thanks for the compliment too.
So you're not married anymore? Sorry if it's too personal, but you said that your older daughter lives there with her mom.
By the way, it would be great if someday you come to spend your holiday here. I'll be glad to be your host. :)
No, not at all. It's fine. I am not married anymore, no, but I live with my new girlfriend. We have two kids together and a third one is one the way, so I could just as well be married you know :)
Yeah, who knows, maybe I can afford a trip down there someday, but as it is now it's hard work just to get by, so I spend most of my holidays here with my oldest daugther visiting :) But hey, that's nice too :)
Hans, wow, it's seems you're one lady's man... :) .. or more like family man. :) I don't have any kids, but I've always admired people who love to have more than one. I barely know you, but I'm pretty sure you're a great father.
I understand. Here, it's even harder.
Of course it's nice spending your holidays with your oldest daughter. :)
Horror, that word is enough for me to say away.
That a nice chat you had...revealed more about the two of you than blogging could. :)
Rekha, it's more of a psychological thriller rather than a horror.
Yep, I realized that too. Well, me and Hans are just honest people who have nothing to hide. :)
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