I'm not saying don't watch it, just be ready to experience the awkwardness and a lot of hysterical shouting throughout. And don't expect a high octane disaster like the title and pictures suggest. The whole thing is uncomfortable and awkward for two hours. There are also lots of random and unexplained events, but they were just playing out what happens on normal family holiday with no explanation or lead-up. It didn't help that I couldn't stand most of the cast of the film. I don't know if this was the intention when they made it or if it's just me!

Force Majeure (Swedish: Turist) (2014) This was a film about snow, families, marriages. Mostly, though, about the survival instinct. A Swiss family takes a vacation in the French Alps. A workaholic father, an attentive and loving mother, a son and a daughter, brother and younger sister. Tomas, Ebba, Vera, Harry. Plus Ebba's girlfriend, who seems to relish a polygamous lifestyle, Charlotte. Mats, an old friend of Tomas's, and his young twenty year old lover, Fanny. Day One. Family together, skis, uneventful. Ends with Vivaldi. Day Two. Family skis in the morning. Lunch, it becomes Avalanche Day. When Tomas grabs his belongings, runs from the scene. Escaping the avalanche, which fortunately never makes impact. Away from his wife. Away from his children. Away from his son calling, "Daddy!". Ebba looks around; she has never experienced anything like this in her life; she is scared; she clutches her children, looking for her husband. Vanished. Laughing, he returns to the table a few minutes later, as if nothing were wrong in the world. That night, dinner with Charlotte and her current man. Tomas insists he did no such thing, he would never run away, of course not. Ebba, plainly shocked into speechlessness. More sharp Vivaldi Concerto No. 2 chords. Day Three. Ebba wants an alone day. She returns to have dinner with Tomas' friends, finally admitting out loud how depressed she is that Tomas denies fleeing from get and the kids. Expressed how afraid she was. Tomas says nothing, even after they watch the video he filmed, clearly showing him running away. Discussion regarding survival instincts. Fanni tells Mats that she feels he would probably react as Tomas had because of his personality. He understandable takes offense and things are different between them after that. Vivaldi. Day Four. Guys day. Mats & Tomas are skiing alone. Mats convinces Tomas to try scream therapy. Tomas feels better. He returns to the hotel but cannot find Ebba. He goes back out and finds himself at a rave party. Non Vivaldi screaming music with sharp chords. Screams more. Pivotal scene. Outside their room, as they're children eavesdrop and hug each other in consolation, Thomas cries out that he hates that bad part of him, that he also suffers. Hates his cowardice. Here cheated in games with the children. Confesses to cheating in past. Final Day. Very foggy day. Ebba is lost in the snow. Tomas tells the children to stay where they are, leaves them to search for his wife. Follows her voice, successfully carries her back to reunite his family. Film ends with another scene showing how we react in survival situations. A bus ride down a winding mountain with sharp turns and driver is obviously not very skilled. Ebba panics, demands to be let out. Overreacting? The bus full of tourists is panicking, screaming, rushing out. Mats very firmly tells everyone to leave in a logical manner, women and children first, otherwise people will get hurt. Success. Charlotte (who previously stated she loved risks) remains in the bus along with a handful of others. Would the purpose of this scene be to show that Ebba can also overreact in what she deems to be a survival instincts situation? Still, she stays with her children by her side. They walk down the mountain. Close curtain. Three things. From a psychological standpoint, I liked this film, its exploration of what we do in a fight or flee survival situation, its refusal to take a side. Secondly, I personally do not feel that Tomas redeemed himself by saving Ebba on the last day of their vacation. Though since Ebba does not seem to want a divorce, I can see why she convinced herself that he did. Thirdly, weird music, sharp Vivaldi that serves as an interlude between days, maybe as foreshadowing to danger, was not to my liking. Other scenes of whiteness and snow and emptiness played well into overall message in film. For this film, the typical Scandinavian somber tone is apposite. Great camera work, Simple premise plays out well. Gives much to ponder. Haibun, "haikai writings", is a prosimetric (written partly in prose and partly in verse) poem in which a haiku is included after the prose, serving as its climax or epiphany. #Haibun #PoemReview

Not ever a movie brought such strong matter for debate. For sure many couples will do it after watching this food for thought movie in which everyone is invited to take a stand and eventually imagine oneself in both sides of the situation. It's a powerful movie in the sense that after laying out a simple, plain holiday family story, needs only a 20 seconds scene in which the absence of an expected attitude from the husband is enough to undermine the grounds of a marriage and therefor totally change the course of the holiday and possibly the entire future of that family. After the "little" incident everything appears normal again but a fly in the ointment becomes more and more visible and the issue can no longer be put aside for the sake of convenience. Everything changed because one of the most elemental bricks in a marriage - trust - ceases to exist. What to do then? The unfolding of the before versus the after is very interesting to watch, specially the aftermath of the incident in which the lowest point is reached when an overwhelming scene of total inner desperation is magnificently presented, laying totally open for display the wound of the abyss of that lost human being who can no longer put himself up for life. A heartbreaking moment of child tenderness and its participation against the implosion of that marriage is beautifully set, being the girl the last resort for keeping the ties when she practically demands that the mother consoles her father. A negative point is the length of the movie and the superfluous 2 further scenes. Despite bringing ambiguity and richer facets to the matter of the film, they however weaken an already autonomous story that can perfectly live by itself.

This is a feminist movie. The women are strong and accuse the men of everything. Men are weak Swedish guys who spend a lot of time crying and complaining why the heck they did what they did. Visually the movie is nice to watch, it's just extremely boring and I feel embarrassed for the actors.I was hoping for the avalanche to wipe out the family and their two friends, that would have saved a lot of trouble from everybody. It would also have saved us from any possible sequel with the same actors.The gas guns trying to launch a controlled avalanche are also extremely disturbing as they bring zero value to the movie. Maybe the director just need some other sound than just the crying.