Insurance broker Max's life is about one thing - keeping his walnut brain tumour in check. He eats properly, exercises and lives properly, but all of this self-consciousness makes him more and more depressed. When he realises that his beloved wife plans to leave him, he decides to take his own life.
Cinematography
The hotel breathes like a living thing.
Acting
Coster-Waldau's eyes hold entire breakdowns.
Director
Jonas Alexander Arnby
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Max Isaksen
Tuva Novotny
Lærke
Sonja Richter
Alice Dinesen
Kate Ashfield
Fake Mother
Robert Aramayo
Ari
Jan Bijvoet
Frank
Slimane Dazi
Francois
Johanna Wokalek
Linda
Vibeke Hastrup
Doctor
Kaya Wilkins
Mia
Anders Mossling
Arthur Dinesen
Mette Lysdahl
Nurse
Lorraine Hilton
Jenny
Solbjørg Højfeldt
Karen
Christine Albeck Børge
Lærke unreal
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Arnby shot the hotel scenes in an actual abandoned Danish sanatorium, which explains why the architecture feels genuinely haunted.
The 'fake mother' scene was improvised—Coster-Waldau didn't know Ashfield was an actress until the take started, making his confusion authentic.
DK
DE
