The Unthinkable is Crazy Picture’s first foray into a making feature film. It is a disaster-thriller story of Sweden under a mysterious attack that puts everything on hold for the entire nation and the protagonists, their love and family entanglements. The film, financed by crowdfunding and support of the Swedish government, stars Christoffer Nordenrot (Alex), Lisa Henni (Anna), and Jesper Barkelius (Bjorn) in leading roles. The 129 minutes film, released by Magnolia Pictures, refreshingly takes us into the encounter with the unknown, which compels the viewers to revisit what it means to be resilient, hopeful, and have faith in love and cherished memories.
In the opening scenes, a few parallel plots are narrated and weaved together. On the one hand, Alex’s family and the roots of its dysfunction hinted, and Alex failed but passionate love for Anna. The early iconography establishes the setting and aptly foreshadows the turn of events. This strategy is indeed the right choice. Viewers get to be viscerally attuned to Swedish rural majestic nature and Bjorn’s tiny hut. They also could see the church where romance flared up and the role of piano and music that meditatively signal the triumph of good forces in the face of coming menace. The suspense keeps building up as the audience sees the story unfolding; Alex lives in Stockholm, though he is still scared and separated from his family and Anna. Then the disaster hits that disrupt and change the main protagonists’ lives and make them cross paths again. The chaos depicted and shocking and hellish imagery heightens the discomfort and builds the aesthetic tension gradually. Crazy Picture’s core belief in “We love to do the impossible” is all in action. The special effects, pounding music, and versatile camera work by the collective are the highlights of their first feature. The ending comes with its twists and some degree of resolution. All characters are made at peace with their fates and pasts, Sweden tries to get back on its feet. The culprit behind the chaos is identified and reconfirmed.
The Unthinkable is Crazy Picture’s first foray into a making feature film. It is a disaster-thriller story of Sweden under a mysterious attack that puts everything on hold for the entire nation and the protagonists, their love and family entanglements. The film, financed by crowdfunding and support of the Swedish government, stars Christoffer Nordenrot (Alex), Lisa Henni (Anna), and Jesper Barkelius (Bjorn) in leading roles. The 129 minutes film, released by Magnolia Pictures, refreshingly takes us into the encounter with the unknown, which compels the viewers to revisit what it means to be resilient, hopeful, and have faith in love and cherished memories.
At the thematic level, viewers experience personal sacrifice, love, commitment, failures and communal integrity, disintegration, and national spirit. The portrayal of the apocalypse as tied to these themes first takes place in Alex’s family. It spread to his romantic affair with Anna, and following it debilitates the whole nation with the terrorist acts revealed shrewdly towards the end. In this context, it is not easy to identify the film’s hero as all characters sacrifice and grow in the process. Alex finds Anna and bonds with her on an emotional level. Bjorn connects back with Alex even though in the final tragic scene. Anna’s new family faces a breakup, but it comes intact. Sweden as a character goes through the unthinkable chemical attack and on the verge of collapse, but it bypasses the unthinkable disruption.
Further, at a different level of interpretation, Crazy Pictures also accentuate the role of memory and the potency of genuine love. The repeated flashbacks that show Alex’s failure to connect with Anna and Bjorn’s treatment of Eva (Pia Halvorsen) are not just time-lapses in the narrative flow, but moments of recognition and empowerment could turn unthinkable in a different direction. Despite these aspects, the film cannot escape critical questions with its bold themes and characterization. The viewers might notice that during this pandemic, which is/was another unthinkable, who is to blame and what a disaster means to us as humans? In Crazy Brothers’s narrative, Russians are the prime targets, as Putin’s pictures illustratively signal and get foreshadowed early in the dialogues. Nevertheless, no matter how fabricated, this overt portrayal cannot be ignored for the political message it sends, which seems to be too directed and over-dramatized.
In the end, the questions that come to mind are how does Unthinkable fit within its generic limits and what main themes it bolds for the viewers. Crazy Pictures team of five believe that films need to be made collectively, and so far, they have 13 short films in their career. They also believe a small studio gets inspiration from American films and its grandiose productions. In keeping with these principles, their first feature’s cinematic language and messages show those strict commitments. No individual character was able to save the strained family relation and national emergency alone. Teamwork and relationships matter, even ones already forgotten, cursed, and corrupted. Admittedly, the global audience who would get a chance to watch Magnet’s release in theatres and on-demand starting May 7th would watch the disaster unfolding from a safe distance. However, their collective and personal sense of responsibility in the face of the unthinkable are astutely and aesthetically awakened.
Score: B+
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