In a Better World

Original title: Hævnen

2010
R
1h 58m

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

42K

YOUR RATING

While Anton (Persbrandt) and Marianne (Dyrholm) contemplate divorce, their bullied son Elias (Rygaard) forms a bond with a new student that puts him in potential danger.

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Tragedy Drama Romance

The lives of two Danish families cross each other, and an extraordinary but risky friendship comes into bud. But loneliness, frailty and sorrow lie in wait.The lives of two Danish families cross each other, and an extraordinary but risky friendship comes into bud. But loneliness, frailty and sorrow lie in wait.The lives of two Danish families cross each other, and an extraordinary but risky friendship comes into bud. But loneliness, frailty and sorrow lie in wait.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

42K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 14 wins & 24 nominations total

Najeeb
(as Will Johnson)

Eddy Kimani

Patient
(as Eddie Kimani)

Emily Mulaya

Sygeplejerske

Gabriel Muli

Læge

June Waweru

Sygeplejerske

Mary Ndoku Mbai

Patient
(as Mary Nduku Mbai)

Dynah Bereket

Gammel dame

William Jøhnk Nielsen

Christian
(as William Jøhnk Juel Nielsen)

Ulrich Thomsen

Claus

Elsebeth Steentoft

Signe

Satu Mikkelinen

Hanna
(as Satu Helena Mikkelinen)

Camilla Gottlieb

Simon Maagaard Holm

Sofus

Emil Nicolai Helms

Sofus' skolekammerat

Martin Buch

Niels

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The Danish title 'Hævnen' translates into English as 'Revenge'. Susanne Bier mentioned that she prefers the English title 'In a Better World' which emphasizes the hopefulness of the film while the Danish title emphasizes the severeness of the film (at 1:52:49 in the Blu-ray director's commentary).

Goofs
When Anton (Michael Persbrant) performs his first surgery he scratches his head/corrects the position of his mask after having put on sterile gloves (at around 42 mins) thereby contaminating them and risking that the patient gets infected. A real surgeon would never do this, and if she or he did, she or he would change gloves.

Quotes
Anton: Sometimes it feels like there is a veil between you and death, but that veil disappears when you lose someone you loved or someone who was close to you, and you see death clearly, for a second, but later the veil returns, and you carry on living. Then things will be alright again.

Connections
Featured in DR2 Premiere: Episode #4.1 (2010)

User reviews104

Review

Featured review

8/10

The problem of vengeance

Is there any subject more mistreated in movies than retaliation? No, I don't think so. There's a dishonourable and long history about it and calling some of the stuff redneck and primitive is being unfair to the whole redneck movement.

Susanna Bier puts other dimensions to it. The boy being bullied at school is also an old subject, but here the real painful questions about so called pay-back are thrown in our faces. A revenge is seldom just a revenge; it brings other consequences too. That sounds like a cliché, but Susanne Bier says it in a way which concerns us. Like vengeance movies seldom do.

Great performance by Mikael Persbrandt, well known for misusing his talent too many times. But not here.