Force Majeure (film)

Plot

A Swedish family consisting of a businessman named Tomas, his Norwegian wife Ebba, their young daughter Vera and preschooler Harry stays at a luxury resort in the French Alps. On their second day, they see a controlled avalanche as they are having lunch outdoors on the deck of a restaurant. The avalanche smoke gives the appearance that the snow is rising and will wipe out everyone on the deck. Tomas, who is filming the avalanche on his mobile phone, panics and runs as the deck quickly empties of patrons, leaving Ebba with their children encased in a dense fog. Patrons return to their tables as the fog dissipates, and no one is hurt.

That evening they eat dinner with one of Ebba's friends, who has picked up an American man for the evening. Ebba tells the story of the avalanche in English, but Tomas insists he did not run away from the table, and in Swedish adds that one cannot run in ski boots. They argue in front of their embarrassed guests. Ebba is angry that he would not admit he ran away from the avalanche abandoning them. He says he remembers it differently.

Ebba decides she would like a day of skiing by herself. She has coffee with her friend they had dinner with the night before, as the woman says goodbye to another man. Ebba confronts her friend on her adultery, asking her if she loves her husband and children. Her friend says she is fine with having an open relationship with her husband, and that she is happy if he finds a woman to have great sex with, as he is with her. Ebba becomes more insistent, and the friend advises they not argue, and leaves.

Mats, one of Tomas's old friends, joins them at the resort with his young girlfriend, Fanni. In their lodge suite as they eat pizza, Ebba suggests that Mats and Tomas have a day of skiing together, since she had a day alone. After dinner and lots of wine Ebba recounts the story of the avalanche, to the silent horror of Mats and Fanni. Tomas curls up with Harry to play a video game, and listens to Mats who insists that we are not ourselves in emergencies, naming the Estonia disaster as an example. Ebba says Tomas won't admit it. Tomas returns and again insists he has a different perspective. So Ebba fetches Tomas's phone and has the four of them watch the video of the incident. Tomas reluctantly agrees the footage showed someone running, but is silent when Mats speculates that Tomas was running away so that he could come back and dig out his family later. As Fanni and Mats leave, Fanni suggests that she would expect Mats to react in the same way as Tomas. Fanni would be attached to her children, and Mats would run. Mats is irritated.

Tomas and Mats ride the ski lift in silence. They climb the mountain side on foot and ski down fresh powder. Tomas screams swear words out into the echoing Alps. Tomas confesses to Ebba that he hates himself, his cowardice, his cheating in games with his kids, his unfaithfulness. He weeps as his children inside huddle and cry together, hearing their parents argue.

On their final day of skiing, the family ascends in the ski lift silently. Ebba asks if it is safe to ski since the fog is so thick. Tomas says he will go first, then the children, then she can follow. They will stop often. Ebba gets lost in the fog and Tomas briefly leaves the children alone to go rescue her, returning carrying her shortly after. He sets her down, grinning.

As the family and their friends leave the resort by coach, Ebba decides the driver is dangerously incompetent and demands in a panic to be let off, leaving Tomas and their children on the bus. The passengers all rush for the door. Mats takes charge, insisting that no-one panic, and women and children will get off first. Eventually, all of the passengers get off the bus, except for Ebba's friend, and descend the mountain on foot.

Cast

Production

Filming took place aux Arcs, a ski resort in Savoie, France.

The title used for the film in some English-speaking countries, "Force Majeure", is based on a French legal term which is the equivalent of a superior force or unforeseen accident, like an "Act of God": a disaster that is not covered by one's insurance policy, or a disaster which relieves both parties of the obligations of the contract until the disaster is over.

Ruben Östlund attributed the inspiration for the film's key scenes to a few viral YouTube videos which he felt corroborated the plausible situation and emotions of the characters. The director reasoned that "...if someone captured an event or action or pang of emotion on camera and uploaded to the Internet, then it happened in real life. And it could happen in Force Majeure." The scene where Ebba demands to be let off the bus is based on the YouTube viral video titled "Idiot Spanish bus driver almost kills students".

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 92% approval rating, based on 133 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Gleefully uncomfortable, Force Majeure is a relationship drama that's hard to watch -- and just as difficult to ignore." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 87 out of 100, based on 37 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Awards

The film was selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Jury Prize. It was also screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.

The film was nominated for the 2014 Nordic Council Film Prize. It was also selected as the Swedish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards, making the early round of shortlist, but was not a nominee. It was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards.

It won the Best Film award, and was nominated in the categories Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing, and Best Editing at the 50th Guldbagge Awards.