A Second Chance

En chance til

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Games of Thrones) gives a career-best performance as a troubled cop in Susanne Bier’s story of blinkered obsession.


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  • Director Susanne Bier
  • Producer Sisse Graum Jørgensen
  • Screenwriter Anders Thomas Jensen
  • With Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Ulrich Thomsen, Maria Bonnevie
  • Denmark-Sweden 2014
  • 105 mins
  • UK distribution Vertigo Films

On what initially appears to be a routine police raid, partners Andreas (Game of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and Simon encounter low-life junkie and proverbial bad penny Tristan. With domestic violence already featuring heavily on his rap sheet, Andreas is understandably unsettled to find Tristan living with another vulnerable woman. Matters are worsened when he discovers their young baby locked away in a cupboard, crying and clearly neglected. A recent father himself, Andreas becomes fixated on safeguarding the child. It soon borders on obsession, dangerously blinding him to other very real problems within his own domestic sphere. Oscar-winning filmmaker Susanne Bier is feted for her beautifully constructed and emotionally challenging work. A Second Chance is brave, unflinching and confrontational, but no matter how tough some scenes may be, we are guided by Bier’s assured direction, which confronts our preconceptions and prejudices.

Sarah Lutton