50/20

Norway’s Official Submission for 'Best International Feature Film' category at the 97th Academy Awards in 2025

Narrative

Armand, a 6-year-old boy, is accused of trespassing against his best friend in elementary school..

The debut feature of Halfdan Ullman Tønder, grandson of Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullman, is a part allegorical, part naturalistic dissection of 21st century parenting and education systems and their attitudes to " an unfortunate accident" between two 6-year-old boys

Renate Reinsvet is the eccentric mother of Armand, the alleged perpetrator of said incident, and as she finds herself closely watched by her son’s teacher, the school administration and the other boy’s parents, the film slowly descends into the abyss of relationships, an indeterminacy from which it never nothing good can come of it.

Ulman Tønder’s purpose and stance are strong, as is his artistic expression, which is visibly inspired by the works of his grandfather and perhaps also to some extent by Kubrick

And even though the narrative as such feels uneven at times and the film unevenly edited, Armand is in many ways a return and a tribute to pure cinema for which it should be applauded.