Beware of Children

In a school yard in Oslo a thirteen year old girl injures a classmate and the boy dies. Her mother is a politician on the right, his father is on the left, the head teacher tries to manage the situation, and one of the staff cannot stay neutral because of his own past. Dag Johan Haugerud does not build a crime story; he watches how everyone speaks afterwards, which words they choose, and what each expects from the other. There are long scenes, static frames and a high density of dialogue. The subject is not the event but the way institutions and adults try to make sense of it, and fail. Who it is for: viewers who like Scandinavian social drama and narrative carried by talk. Who it is not for: anyone without patience for a slow film approaching two and a half hours.