Loveable

Maria is raising four children and the running of the house depends on her. Her husband travels a great deal. One evening Sigmund wants to sit and talk, and says he wants to end the marriage. Maria is astonished; as far as she was concerned things were fine, or at least everyone's marriage was like this. They fight. Maria sets about proving she is right. She goes to a therapist, meaning to show that her husband is at fault. The therapist asks something else. Maria objects. Then she comes back. Lilja Ingolfsdottir writes, directs and edited it; it is her first feature. Helga Guren plays Maria and Oddgeir Thune plays Sigmund. It is a Norwegian production. The film had its world premiere at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival on 2 July 2024. It took five prizes there; the special jury prize, best actress, the Europa Cinemas Label, and the FIPRESCI and ecumenical jury awards. It was nominated in nine categories at the 2025 Amanda awards. The matter it treats is where the anger comes from; the film gives the separation not as an event but as a coming apart. The narrative does not put Maria in the right and does not show the husband as bad. The camera hardly ever leaves Maria and the narrative runs from a single point of view. The therapy scenes are its spine and the film builds no easy diagnosis there. Its limit is the watching; the narrative is tiring, the character difficult, and the film gives no relief. Who it is for: viewers who like Scandinavian drama and narratives about relationships. Who it is not for: it is heavy, tiring, and the ending unresolved.