Birthday Girl

No pun intended - the movie and the story may be quite simple (yet still infuriating) .. but it is the lead actresses especially that will give this the edge it needs ... to be worthwhile for the viewer. That said, the movie is not trying to please the viewer in any respect ... it is tough to watch, even without being explicit.

It feels a bit like a documentary ... but it especially feels real. As in the characters do react how you'd think, how'd you expect them to react ... with questions raised, with a mother really going all the way to shield her daughter ... within her own limitations and the flaws and mistakes that come with that ... some people do not want to be saved ... the ending almost ruins the whole thing ... while it all feels so real, we get something that is quite .. well feels "Hollywood" ... way over the top ... but seems necessary to give us one final ... well goodbye I reckon ... that also leaves us with a bitter taste ...

"Nanna" (Trine Dyrholm) has a strained relationship with her daughter "Cille" (Flora Lindahl) and so invites her and her friend "Lea" (Maja Ida Thiele) onto a Caribbean cruise to celebrate her birthday. The boat duly sets sail and the girls meet "Kevin" (Herman Tammeraas) and his brother "Ryan" (Nathan Popa) and they all let their hair down. A trip out to the boat deck for "Cille" doesn't not end well, and now distressed, hungover and unable to recall just what did happen, her mother is convinced that she has been raped. She reports her suspicions to the authorities, but with her daughter unwilling to undergo any sort of medical and the ship being in somewhat muddy international waters, they claim their hands are tied and so it falls to "Nanna" to try to identify and shame the culprit. The question is, with "Cille" remaining adamantly uncooperative with her mother, even in private, is she going to get the right man? Too much of this drama is based on the scare factor of the alleged deed and nowhere near enough on developing a characterful story that engages. We are selectively drip-fed information that is manoeuvring us to a series of conclusions that I felt distinctly uncomfortable about. On the one hand we have a "victim" who refuses to incriminate her offender - but is that because there was no offence, or because she doesn't remember, or because she is ashamed or a bit of all three? Meantime we are encouraged to see one of these young men as a cocky sexual predator without really having any more to go on than a kiss and her mother's guilt-ridden suspicions. From here on in the scenarios lurch around in a fashion that might be intended to convey the exasperation of "Nanna", but by presenting an entirely one-sided perspective I actually started to dislike this woman, quite intensely. The denouement is something straight out of Agatha Christie, with an all too convenient wrapping up of events that is every bit as obnoxious as the crime itself. To really get to the heart of depictions of sex crimes like this, you can't just sail along encouraging the audience to make assumptions about boozed-up responsibility and consent without far more substantial characterisations otherwise it just perpetuates man-hating attitudes that help no one.

A driven performance by Trine Dyrholm is the nucleus of this almost subtle dissection of an alleged rape aboard a cruise ship bound for the Caribbean. Dyrholm plays a mother who has taken her daughter Cille (Flora Ofelia Hoffmann Lindahl) and a friend on a cruise to celebrate the girl's 18th birthday. And in accordance with your typical libertine Danish tradition, mum wants to party with the young girls - but so do a group of young Norwegian bachelors, headed by the charming Kevin (Herman Tømmeraas from the Norwegian TV series Skam). Birthday Girl manages to address the timeless issue of rape with topical detail, with the added complication of aspects such as international waters and the reputation of a cruise ship company on the line. The film is by no means flawless - at times, director Michael Noer is too preoccupied with pushing certain plot points and conflicts to the forefront at the expense of character authenticity. Still, there is dramatic power and at times a palpable nerve in the situation mother and daughter find themselves in, and the two Danish actresses impress in the leads.

Intense and enjoyable, drama about a mother daughter vacation/cruise but still burdened with cliches that are wearing thin. Plus some unanswered questions due to lack of character development.

I also saw some questionable scripting that again followed the typical authority figure cliches, and a couple were on the face palming level of "What were they thinking" scale. And a couple of logistical and weather errors in regards to the cruise itself, but not to the point that one would allow them to diminish the quality of the movie.

The ending at least for me was appropriate considering the circumstance of the plot. Although it didn't come without a bit of hesitation in which I was hopeful that the director and writer would corn ball it, and they didn't.

6 out of 10.