In a Better World

Anton, a Swedish doctor, spends part of his time working at a refugee camp in Sudan, where he comes face to face with a warlord who mutilates women. In Denmark his son Elias is being bullied at school. Christian, a new boy, defends him and the two become friends. Christian's idea of revenge grows; they build a bomb to destroy a mechanic's car, and when it goes off early it turns into tragedy. Susanne Bier directed and wrote it with Anders Thomas Jensen. Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm and Ulrich Thomsen are in the cast. It won Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards and took the Golden Globe in the same category. Bier won Best Director at the European Film Awards. The reviews split. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 78 percent with a 7.11 average and Metacritic at 65. Roger Ebert gave two and a half stars, writing that the African and Danish strands do not integrate organically and feel like two self-conscious parables, while allowing the film's noble intentions and praising the young actors. Who it is for: viewers who like moral drama about violence and retaliation. Who it is not for: anyone bothered by parallel structure that feels forced. How the two strands are joined is the film's most criticised weakness.