Hlynur Pálmason (director)
Curzon (studio)
15 (certificate)
109 (length)
13 March 2026 (released)
10 h
The opening shot of a roof being lifted off a house virtually intact is very striking and could lead one to believe that this will be some sort of ‘art house’ story.
There is art but the title of the film pretty much sums what it’s about. Magnus (Sverrir Gudnason) is divorced from Anna (Saga Garðarsdóttir) but continues to hold a torch that they may reconcile.
Anna meantime with the children (an older daughter and twin boys) has moved on. Certainly Anna has who is trying to get her rustic art of rusting metal shapes and large canvases onto the market. The children are old enough to know the problems are probably irreconcilable between them but still young enough to need a father figure. Nevertheless, for a good proportion of the film, they are content to play around a wooden stake they drove into the ground and a mannequin they dress and tie up, then generally bash about.
The running storyline is Magnus’s pathetic attempts to get back with Anna and his place in the family. This is vividly shown when he’s at a family meal and he tries to assert his patriarchal authority that annoys Anna and is ignored by the children.
Its vignettes such as this that pepper the film, with the children openly discussing their lives and parents, Anna trying to impress a boring gallery owner, Magnus out at sea on the fishing boat. The one constant running through the film is Panda the dog.
Written and directed by Hlynur Pálmason there are serious issues wrapped up in a playfulness. He presents the family going about their business as group or individually. If there is any sympathy here its maybe for Magnus who is not dealing with the situation at all well, though it’s a hard ask on the viewer.
Surrealism is introduced when after killing a rooster, Magnus has a nightmare in which he’s attacked by a giant rooster. The mannequin comes to life and one of the twins gets shot by an arrow they had been aiming at it. That leads to blackly comic sequence in the hospital.
Its looks wonderful. the sweeping rugged terrain of Iceland suiting the offbeat nature of the film and cast, who are all very good.
The Love That Remains will be in UK and Irish cinemas from 13 March 2026.
