Elisabeth (Renate Reinsve, in perhaps her finest performance yet) has been summoned to an emergency meeting after her 6-year-old son Armand is accused of inappropriate behaviour toward a classmate; at the school she is subjected to an intense and troubling investigation conducted by the principal, his more sympathetic, if inexperienced aide, and the alleged victim’s defensive parents. Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel’s exceptionally powerful film gradually morphs from claustrophobic chamber piece into something altogether more undefinable as the director locates formally daring mechanisms to explore the inner turmoil of his characters. Winner of the Caméra d’Or for Best First Feature at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, Armand is an auspicious debut feature from Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel, as we might have expected from the grandson of cinematic royalty Liv Ullmann and Ingmar Bergman.

Notes by David O’Mahony