Familier som vores

Thomas Vinterberg's series "Families Like Ours" is an ambitious tale about a Danish family facing an apocalyptic crisis. The acting is decent, but it is difficult to sympathize with the characters as they often make incredibly foolish decisions.

From the beginning of the series, we see the family navigate through a series of catastrophic choices that only worsen their situation. Their inability to think rationally and act sensibly makes it hard for viewers to engage emotionally. Instead of learning from their mistakes, they repeat them over and over, which can be frustrating to watch.

Their decisions are often driven by extreme stupidity and short-term thinking, It is hard to feel sympathy for characters who seemingly do not learn from their mistakes and continue to put themselves and others in danger.

Although the series has its strong moments and manages to create an intense atmosphere, it is difficult to overlook the many foolish decisions the family makes. This makes it challenging to invest emotionally in their fate and leaves the viewer feeling frustrated rather than empathetic.

I was looking forward to this series with a certain amount of expectation. Knowing many of the strong films by Vinterberg - The Biggest Heroes, The Celebration, The Hunt, Another Round, and my favourite: Submarino (2010) - I felt quite confident about what to expect in terms of craftsmanship. Also the cast, with strong forces like Thomas Bo Larsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Esben Smed, Paprika Steen, and David Dencik would normally be seen as adequate guarantees of great performances.

I like the idea behind the plot, which I think shares bonds to the short story "Hvis der blev krig i Norden" ('If War Should Occur in the North', own translation) but the way the story has unfolded so far is with some lenghts from the standards I had hoped for. More than half though all 7 episodes, the plot seems stuck in a moment of a catastrophe that you simply do not buy. All the streets of inner Copenhagen and those of the suburbs appear completely passable, yet the country is closing down (!) because of rising sea level! In reality btw, most of historic Copenhagen is situated only a few meters above sea level. This means, the story clings on to a narrative of disastrous climate changes that you need to understand but never get to see the consequences of. Only in an epilogue of the last chapter of the series you get an overview of some of the consequences, although, it still appears like a strongly forced decision to shut down a country.

And then the characters... Hardly anyone in particular deliver on the scale you could expect, perhaps with the exception of Dencik, who as usual portrays with a grit and with emotions on the outside. Alas, his role is minimised and not followed in the last part, where we only follow Laura's destiny. What's more astute is that not many of the characters come out as strongly sympathetic, which makes it hard to be engaged in how they will manage. At the center of the plot we meet Laura, nicely portrayed by Amaryllis August, and around her a few actors stand out, e.g. Magnus Millang and Asta Kamma August, but the characters they play are not persuasively build as they appear somewhat one-dimensional and take odd decisions that cannot only be explained via a confrontation with chaotic implications. As we leave Laura in episode 3, she has only just made a rather existential decision and then in the midst of the succeeding episode, she realises the consequences of that, although she already dealt with that previously, and only then she begins to act it out. Of course a little late it appears, and that nonsensical development disrupts our understanding of the character - yes, she's young, yes, she's put in a complete chaos she and no one are in control of, but still, (duh) it doesn't help the plot and our conception of the narrative. Another critical issue is that some scenes could be improved by retakes and then the whole story is so far burdened by no variation in tension, which I find is the most annoying aspect. Also, too much of the story is put on young shoulders, who don't own the expertise of acting but mostly due to inadequate scripting of the characters. Amyrillis August portrays a young mother, at first very convincing, but her character undergoes a strange personal swift mood change (in ep. 4) that doesn't help caring for the young mother. And then she's like many other characters put away in the last episode. Naturally, we cannot follow all but the decision to put in a strong role and then not follow her journey to the end is a frustration that is mirrored in several others. Basically, she plays the only part of working class Denmark, and everything else is centered on a narrow elite of families representing 1% of the Danish population.

The production costs naturally limit what you are able to realise, but why then use the few locations you dispose of to try to sell something it won't stand a chance to materialise as? It's quite obviously a story that takes place and progress via the dialogues and thus more suitable for something for the stage - that is if you cut down the length 'cause after four episodes we are into a 7 episodes' series, but it appears like 30 minutes into a 2 hour long film, despite knowing we're half way through. I hope that I'm mistaken concerning my current expectations as to what will occur in the last three remaining chapters, but fact is, I was already a bit bored. Which means: I had lost hope for this, and my state had actually only put me pondering whether it would be worth following the next chapters. I still hoped for more but for the whole plot and the execution was a disappointing affair.

EDIT: after watching episode 4, I have granted the series another star (now going on 4), not because that means I will eventually end up handing it 7 (unlikely) when all episodes are through, but my initial verdict with 3/10 does seem a bit harsh now. I still kinda like the idea of the story and some of the characters - it's not their fault the script lacks here and there - but it's still a long way to make this a pursuassive and recommended series to follow. I guess, the fourth episode convinced me to see all episodes, though, as some twist and turns have made the story a bit more interesting - and I basically really want to see what Vinterberg has put his work into.

FINAL EDIT after 7 episodes: Overall I hand the series 4 / 10 stars. With the last three episodes, we follow the characters on their individual journeys in foreign countries, but the destinations are far from logical. You could argue that in times of catastrophe there would be no logic, but choosing Poland, Finland, and Romania as top priorities is hard to swallow. What happened to Norway, Sweden, the British Isles, and Canada/ Australia/ New Zealand for that matter? Meaning countries with similar culture, and less density in population. Of course Vinterberg intends to strengthen the idea of a world turned upside down with the spoiled elite turned into what has more in common with contemporary refugees from Syria, Sudan, Ukraine, Eritrea, Palestine... and we wouldn't understand that if the families would seek refuge in other wealthy economies. So, that's just another "absurdity" to accept.

Without spoiling the end, I felt like a revisit to Von Trier and his "Breaking the Waves". The analogy to existential despair is touching but also forced, unnatural and a much unwanted director's remark to yell out this.is.the.end.of.the.story!

In retrospect, the story should have let us know what we are dealing with. What's at stake. Show us. Pick people from more than just a narrow community, when portraying a whole country. Use a logical mindset to the created characters - even when things go wrong, most people still act as responsible individuals.

A strong starting point ends with too many loose ends.

This Thomas Vinterberg's series looks about a doomsday of denmark, making audience expect "Roland Emmerich moments" with CGI catastrophe like "Copenhagen underwater"? No, Vinterberg has his own style, and his own concerns to tell a story full of passion, sympathy and self-reflection.

Is the main audience European and North American? Maybe, and people's experience would make different perception of this series. I am the son of a refugee family who escaped wars, I myself was a "skilled worker" in an immigration program me to a western country. We know the bureaucracy and chaos to enter a country, facing hostility and violence worrying about any circumstances. However, after finally settling down, we always keep in mind the generosity, hospitality and all the good wills of kind people, no matter the living condition is high class or not.

What I cherish in this series, is that this time it's the middle class white family having a touch of a refugee's life. The main family and its members in this series is high middle class, living high quality life, especially in a welfare state that the whole world envies. Yet in the beginning of the story they don't have a clue how fortunate they are. When a catastrophe comes, they try everything to keep the living standard as before, not willing to lead a simpler life or share resources with other people. They are one family and only cares about their family, not realizing there are thousands of "families like ours".

As the show progresses, at first they are all luckily welcomed by people in different countries, where they can still have good jobs and promising future, but they are so "spoiled" that eventually spoiled all the good chances. Some characters even went into the worst nightmare a refugee could get into, facing all the risks and dangers even the hostility and malice. We third world nationals had a lot of stories like this, and the series just let white middle class danish characters to go through it too.

Only when they face the worst, lose everything and yet still manage to survive, they could start realizing how fortunate they were, and how different people around the world are living their lives. Life can be simple and even poor, but what matters is the kindness, humanity and love among people. Even if your homeland no longer exists, you can still live the best of a humble life, and celebrate the beauty of life wherever you are.

This series deals with both global warming and refugee crisis that Europe is facing in 2020s, and it encourages European citizens to contemplate: will we be refugees one day? Will we be any different from the refugees we are receiving today? As the world is on a decline, and the society will lose a lot collectively, are we able to and willing to share what we have and what we lose with others? Always remember it's not only about "our family", but also about all the "Families Like Ours".

It's so annoying to see this Laura character and her foolish naivety. She must be the biggest crybaby ever.

Stubborn, silly, and definitely not a representative 17-18 year old Scandinavian girl. The idea for this series is good, but the script is not realistic. I know Danes are stubborn, but some of these characters are both stubborn and so incredibly lacking in street smarts. Too bad Winterberg did not see this. It feels like the series misses the mark on portraying believable characters, making it harder to feel invested in their journey. Such a wasted opportunity for depth.

I can just agree with the Gilles Character that says Jacob and his wife are just spoiled persons.

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.