Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
A manager of an orphanage in India is sent to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he discovers a life-altering family secret.
Susanne Bier's Danish drama is a gripping emotional puzzle that reveals its secrets slowly and devastatingly. The plot is genuinely surprising yet feels earned, with Mads Mikkelsen and Sidse Babett Knudsen delivering powerhouse performances that anchor the film's melodramatic turns in raw authenticity. The cinematography is handheld and intimate but unremarkable by Scandinavian art-film standards. The film's emotional logic and the moral complexity of its resolution elevate it well above average, though the premise of secrets-within-wealthy-families is a familiar dramatic device, keeping Novelty in check.