Familier som vores

There was the Kierkegaard quote on the leap of faith but this series remained stuck in the aesthetic phase fair and square. Upper middle class families tumble down the wheel of fortune to expose how bad we are with refugees and how awful the Poles are. At the same time the protagonists lack a realistic sense of self-preservation and resilience, in other words: quite dumb. In its attempt to be a morality play its ethics and lack of humanism are very problamatic. So quote Kierkegaard as much as you like: on the surface, okayish for a few hours of entertainment but deeply flawed in its political messaging and dramatic depth, zero fathoms deep.

A country where everyone live in big houses or mansions, drives Mercedes or Audis and every adult is either an architect, diplomat, psychiatrist or entrepenour. Seemingly there is no working class or poor in Denmark.

'Families Like Ours' tries to show what happens to those "ordinary" danes, and how they act and react, facing a shutdown because of rising sea levels.

The build-up is really slow. First example of "something is not right here" is when the architect notices that the water level in his toilet has risen (I kid you not). Then there's the usual "nobody panic" message from the primeminister on television (causing everyone to panic more or less of course). Immediately after we're off to a whole string of sequences and episodes of every man (or woman or family) for themselves. But they are not fighting for survival because the threat isn't imminent. It's more a capitalist nightmare of "who will lose most of their money" before time runs out? And who will stick together? Each chasing their own version of safety, Most behaving unbelievably selfish.

The acting is okay (Vinterberg knows how to direct his cast), but the script could use a lot more fine-tuning. Trying to pick up how teens in Denmark speak, they just inserted words like "sick" here and there in their dialouge for example. There are also servere pacing issues throughout and I really think this would have been a better show if it was made as a two-hour movie instead. Actually some episodes are actually kind of boring.

Maybe if they pick it up in US? Their adaption could be called "Families like ours in 90210"

The premise is very interesting, but the script and how most of the characters act is beyond stupid. Makes for an unintelligent script that completely destroys any thrill.

It starts out setting the tone and you start to think, wow what if this actually happened, then what what you handle it. Many really great actors in this productions makes it even more interesting to dive into. The first couple of episodes starts strong. Episode 4 was a turning point for a disaster of a stupid storyline unfortunately.

It is shot in a intriguing manor and the locations make it believable at first. Then hits the storyline that it just worse and worse episode by episode. By mid-episode 5 I lost all interest in this.

In Thomas Vinterberg's Families Like Ours (Familier som vores), characters face impossible decisions in what could have been an over-the-top apocalyptic sci-fi series. Instead, within the environmental framework of disaster, Vinterberg stays focused on the human cost. It's ironic to see some reviewers question how certain characters could be so stupid or myopic in their decision making, but the series shows how difficult it is for people faced with impossible choices, particularly emotional ones, to think clearly when they're losing everything else.

The series is blessed with some excellent Danish actors--but it's the two young leads (Amaryllis April August and Albert Rudbeck Lindhardt) who pull us in and keep us connected. It isn't that the other actors aren't excellent (Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Paprika Steen always reliable)--but the stories of Laura and Elias are simply more riveting--and extreme. The series also pushes at the notion that becoming a refugee can only happen to "others," illustrating what happens when even well-off Danes become unwanted migrants. The human dilemma is simply human, at all costs, even if you start out on better financial footing.

It's very hard to watch some of this series, especially some of the violence, but it's necessary to see what can happen to anyone. Determination alone doesn't ensure anything in a world like this--though it helps. Sometimes faith and acceptance bring some stability, as with Fanny (Steen), and at others it brings disaster anyway. We move toward an unclear resolution, the most we can hope for in this fictive world.

The idea is good here. Showcase what it means to be a refugee, by making the Danes go through what is happening to many in war ridden countries. Acting is fine as well.

However it just becomes too forced. There are situations where main characters makes such stupid decisions that it became unbelieveable and nearly unbearable to watch. Add to this that it is incredibly slow at times, especialy the last few episodes are just dragged out. It could have been maybe 4 episodes instead.

I would still recommend Danes to watch it as a learning exercise of how it is to be a refugee. The empathy refugees deserve is for sure missing in todays society.