Maja, a Danish actress past her prime, falls in love with Leah, a young Jewish academic from London. Leah suffers a mysterious seizure, and Maja returns with her to London. There, she meets Leah’s mother, an overbearing woman who could hold dark secrets.
Acting
Sofie Gråbøl's Chana: every glance is a threat.
Direction
Gislason milks Orthodox Jewish spaces for maximum alienation.
Cinematography
Cramped London flat becomes a suffocating pressure cooker.
Director
Gabriel Bier Gislason
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film uses authentic Orthodox Jewish customs as both texture and plot device, with some critics praising its specificity while others questioned a non-Jewish Danish filmmaker's handling of the material.
Sofie Gråbøl, famous as Sarah Lund in The Killing, learned Yiddish and Hebrew blessings for the role—her pronunciation fooled some native speakers.
DK
