In a Better World

In a Better World is classy, portentous awards fodder. The story concerns two Danish schoolboys—sensitive and bullied Elias (Markus Rygaard) and solemn recent arrival Christian (William Jøhnk Juels Nielsen), who defends his newfound friend. Elias' parents, Anton (Mikael Persbrandt) and Marianne (Trine Dyrholm), are separated, while Christian blames his father, Claus (Ulrich Thomsen), for his mother's recent death. After beating the school bully senseless, Christian sets his sights on a local mechanic who insulted Anton. Though Anton cautions the boys against revenge, Christian drags the hapless Elias deeper into his plot. Meanwhile, Anton's occupation as a surgeon brings him to an African refugee camp, where he faces his own moral crisis when a vicious warlord arrives seeking medical aid. Director Susanne Bier cuts back and forth between the two locales, drawing a shaky parallel between the conflicts. The joyless intensity of Christian's pathological desire for "justice" comes off as contrived, as though Bier felt the need to escalate the Danish end of the tale to justify the comparison to the lawless brutality in Africa. All this intrigue plays unevenly against the pallid drama of Anton and Marianne's marital woes. The film is beautifully shot and well acted—particularly by Persbrandt and young Rygaard—but its attempt to link the miseries of contemporary Africa with an overblown Danish family melodrama feels forced.