Mother, Couch

• Niclas Larsson
• 96 min
• United States, Sweden, Denmark
• 2023
• Fiction

Ewan McGregor impresses in Niclas Larsson's star-studded psychological indie drama based on Jerker Virdborg's novella.

Three siblings converge in a furniture store in the middle of nowhere. Here, their mother, portrayed by Ellen Burstyn, has barricaded herself on a couch. David (McGregor) does his best to diplomatically try to resolve the situation, but the other siblings (Rhys Ifans, Laura Flynn Boyle) seem to take the situation with frustrating nonchalance. And while the mother's stationary position on the couch brings forth Norenesque family conflicts to the surface, the furniture store appears increasingly labyrinthine, and David is chased through a never-ending Kubrickian nightmare with a desperate look in his eyes. Swedish director Niclas Larsson (Vatten, GFF 2013) returns to Gothenburg after a period in international advertising with a charged psychological drama that not only impresses with its star-studded cast.

- Annie Karlsson

• Drama
• Thriller
• Adaption
• Familj
• Debut