Persona non grata

The homecoming of a writer who fled country life after a traumatic childhood turns into a gentle comedy that reflects on memories, traumas and the clash between country and city life . Although this part does not avoid clichés (urban characters are vegetarians and idiots, while farmers are rude but with a good heart), it works in the most personal aspects, in the need to leave the past behind and face the present without regrets.

First of all, none of the characters are wholly likeable. If you watch it waiting for a hero, you'll be severely frustrated. That's not to say all the characters are bad, but that they're dynamic. The film masterfully unfurls the layers of the characters overtime in a way that's more true to life than a lot of American cinema - (that is, usually having one clear good character and one clear villain by the climax).

Themes: identity, change, bullying, jealousy and belonging.

Although deliberately cringey at times, I really enjoyed watching this film. Well cast, well written, well shot.

If you find cliches quirky and fun and do not like to be challenged or surprised at any point, this movie may be for you.

The story is bland, the direction terrible and the actors clearly don't care.

Danish cinema has much to offer. I would suggest you find something else.

I loved Festen. But asked why, it is impossible to explain. There are no sympathetic characters there, only troubled ones. So any movie that critics are desperate to compare to it are in trouble.

PNG has few immediately likable characters in it. At first sight. The counter point is that this makes them all the more human. Critical reviewers might find that fact of life bland, but the non-binary nature of humanity is exactly what this movie demonstrates. No one is as they seem, at first sight. Because no one is 1-dimensional. This is not spectacular as an observation, but the movie does well in developing this line of thought, without becoming too cliche.

Better movies exist, but to dismiss this one as a failure is just lazy, IMHO. There might be no clear winners in terms of the plot, but anyone who dismisses this as negative is clearly more destined to adore the superhero genre. This is about actual people, including all of their imperfections without making an enormous deal of it. Deal with that.

A good story about city vs countryside people. A bit of annoying characters at times but all in all pretty good cinematography and direction. Nothing groundbreaking but definitely worth a watch!