Hope

Name: Hope
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: April 16, 2021
Duration: 130 min
Rating: 87
Cast: Alfred Vatne, Andrea Bræin Hovig, Daniel Storm Forthun Sandbye, Dina Enoksen Elvehaug, Einar Økland

2021

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 17 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Ratings

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6.7

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6.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Ratings

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Hope (US Trailer 1)

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Movie Details & Credits

Kimstim Films | Release Date: April 16, 2021 | Not Rated

Starring: Alfred Vatne, Andrea Bræin Hovig, Daniel Storm Forthun Sandbye, Dina Enoksen Elvehaug, Einar Økland, Eirik Hallert, Elli Rhiannon Müller Osbourne, Gjertrud L. Jynge, Steinar Klouman Hallert, Stellan Skarsgård

Summary: Anja (Andrea Bræin Hovig) lives with Tomas (Stellan Skarsgård) in a large family of biological children and stepchildren. For a number of years the two adults have grown independent of each other, with creative jobs in parallel worlds. When Anja gets a terminal cancer diagnosis, their modern life breaks down and exposes neglected love.Anja (Andrea Bræin Hovig) lives with Tomas (Stellan Skarsgård) in a large family of biological children and stepchildren. For a number of years the two adults have grown independent of each other, with creative jobs in parallel worlds. When Anja gets a terminal cancer diagnosis, their modern life breaks down and exposes neglected love. Alone with her grief and her fears, Anja realizes that she needs Tomas’ full help and support. It’s their only chance. How else will their children find the strength once she is gone, if their parents are unable to weather the storm together? Anja and Tomas are thrown into a crash course in mutual trust, and eventually a joint struggle, to deal with this unexpected and premature death. By getting to know each other anew, they unconsciously become principal characters in a love story, finally learning to truly love each other after a long life spent together.… Expand

Director: Maria Sødahl

Genre(s): Drama, Romance

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 130 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

RogerEbert.com Godfrey Cheshire

Apr 16, 2021

To be sure, cancer may not sound like an inviting cinematic subject, especially to families and individuals who—like this writer—have been faced with its sometimes-overwhelming trials. Yet the effect of Hope is anything but depressing; it’s reassuring proof of art’s ability to comfort as it clarifies. Read full review

100

Bob Strauss

Apr 13, 2021

It’s an ode to the satisfactions of facing life head-on with whatever time you have left. And writer-director Maria Sødahl semi-autobiographical drama earns every iota of its hard-won uplift. Read full review

Alex Saveliev

Apr 15, 2021

Like its central performance, Hope manages to convey and dissect so much with (seemingly) so little: the way real struggle makes us realize how much we love, truly see, and trust each other; the hidden reserves of human perseverance in the face of certain death; the healing power of art; and hope, of course. Hope and despair give life meaning, one unable to exist without the other. Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

Mar 1, 2021

Bræin Hovig and Skarsgård take us into their confidence as they make these choices, decisions, promises and compromises. The wonder of Hope is how much of that they do without dialogue, just with a look, a gesture, a silent scream of despair or teeth grinding in resignation. Read full review

Ty Burr

Apr 21, 2021

Writer-director Sødahl expertly balances the sentimental and the acerbic, the grave and the altar. But Hope lives or dies on its central performances, and they are perfectly realized. Read full review

David Rooney

Mar 1, 2021

It's the integrity of the performances by Hovig and Skarsgard that keeps the classy drama so engrossing, with the director making neither character entirely saint or sinner but giving them both infinite shadings in between. Read full review

The Guardian Peter Bradshaw

Dec 9, 2021

There is something, for me, unrevealing about the drama, and almost sentimental about the final moments. But Hovig and Skarsgård are both very good. Read full review

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User Reviews

Brent_Marchant

Apr 30, 2021

A crisis can change a relationship overnight, as is the case for a couple that has been together for a long time but has grown apart over the years. The ordeal offers them an opportunity for reconciliation and redemption, but, most of all, it affords the possibility for the rebirth ofA crisis can change a relationship overnight, as is the case for a couple that has been together for a long time but has grown apart over the years. The ordeal offers them an opportunity for reconciliation and redemption, but, most of all, it affords the possibility for the rebirth of much-needed hope. So it is when a middle-aged mother and professional choreographer receives a diagnosis of a terminal brain tumor, prompting her and her theater producer partner to reevaluate the nature of their relationship. It's a difficult process, full of revelations, the surfacing of brutal honesty and the rekindling of romantic feelings that have long been sidelined by other priorities. Norwegian writer-director Maria Sodahl's third feature explores what this couple undergoes when faced with such trying circumstances, a story effectively brought to life by the film's insightful screenplay and the fine performances of Andrea Braein Hovig and Stellan Skarsgard. While the picture can be a heartbreaking watch, it also illustrates that, when there's life, there's hope, a sentiment aptly and succinctly reflected in this offering's simple but appropriate title.… Expand

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Mauro_Lanari

Jan 31, 2023

(Mauro Lanari)
I read it would be an autobiographical story and that Maria Sødahl did not intend to make a cancer movie. Yet for over half of the feature it is like seeing Haneke's "Amour" again but with the protagonist suffering from a brain tumor and with the style of Zentropa productions:(Mauro Lanari)
I read it would be an autobiographical story and that Maria Sødahl did not intend to make a cancer movie. Yet for over half of the feature it is like seeing Haneke's "Amour" again but with the protagonist suffering from a brain tumor and with the style of Zentropa productions: the same drama of an incipient death in an upper-class context (she goes to bed with lipstick). Then it is also true that the centrality of the disease gives way to the analysis of the couple relationship and a romantic frankness, however honesty and realism collide with a direction that does not give up exhibiting an out of place formal talent and some emotional blackmail.
Incidentally: is there anyone in Europe who is not bourgeois or who in any case would not want to be? Once Marxist maiutics defeats false consciousness, hasn't it been perhaps discovered that the exploited are disinterested in a paradigm shift and rather desire their part/slice/share of the neoliberal structure? Wouldn't social democracy be based on a refuted anthropology?… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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