Rose

“I feel like strangling you.” says Inger (Sofie Gråbøl) to a stranger at lunch on the first day of their coach trip/holiday to France. A pause then, “Shall we wait until after lunch?” is the reply, or words close to that and an example of the humour that sets up Rose.

Inger is a schizophrenic who with her sister Ellen (Lene Marie Christensen) and brother-in-law Vagn (Anders W. Berthelsen) are on a coach trip to visit Paris and Normandy, in particular the D-Day Museum.

It’s quite a responsibility for the couple but with Inger taking her meds she is relatively calm if with a fear of jumping out of the bus, prone to say the whatever is on her mind. The latter upsets fellow traveller Andreas (Søren Malling) but intrigues his son Christian (Luca Reichardt Ben Coker), which sets up the intolerance and understanding counter elements of the film.

Set a few weeks after the death of Princess Diana in Paris, the timing isn’t all that important save to give Vagn a reason to go and see the tunnel where she died and the memorials which in turns triggers something in Inger’s mind that nearly causes a tragedy.

Inger’s mental collapse is in part due to her French partner terminating their relationship, a few years back. Questioned by Christian she is open about the relationship, too much for Andreas but amusingly for the viewer. And her friendship with Christian set in train the rather curious latter half of the film.

Up until then the direction and writing of Niels Arden Oplev draw out a magnificent performance from Gråbøl, as Inger struggles with things that upset or bemuse the group. Other times she takes centre stage as during dinner demonstrates her French language skills.

Where the film falls away a little is when Inger and Christian's platonic friendship develops, the latter empowering himself to poke into Inger’s very private life. His following actions then look to provide both a possible contributing cause to Inger’s breakdown and some sort of closure for her.

Neither seem that convincing and it's what one might expect from a Hallmark production. Just as disappointing is the black humour and bad taste that Inger liberally sprinkles at the start dissipates as the film progresses.

The caveat here is that Arden Oplev has based Rose on his personal experiences dealing with a schizophrenic family member in a similar situation. So it can’t be totally dismissed as just sugar and spice. At the same time that element stymies the much more interesting use of black humour to illustrate what a terrible condition schizophrenia is for the person and the effects on people close to them and the mixed reaction of others.

Rose is in selected cinemas and on demand on 28 June 2024.