Review: Force Majeure
A freak occurrence puts strain on a marriage in Ruben Östlund's crafty melodrama.
City Paper grade: A-
A freak occurrence puts strain on a marriage in Ruben Östlund’s crafty melodrama. Johannes Kuhnke and Lisa Loven Kongsli seem like a happy couple as they embark on a ski trip with their two children, but a moment of weakness on his part brings their troubles to the surface like a zombie bursting from a shallow grave, turning their vacation into a marital gauntlet. The subject matter is so familiar as to be mundane, but Östlund stages the couple’s gradual unraveling as a sly comic horror, where once the floodgates have been opened every minor infraction becomes a major issue. It’s painful and darkly hilarious; as the screws tighten, you lose track of whether you’re grinning or wincing.

