01/07/2024 - We get the low-down on this dark, satirical drama that lays bare the falsity of corporate culture and self-help, as it screens at Karlovy Vary as part of EFP’s Future Frames

The Danish short film The Complaint is centred on Mona, who is attending a leadership course focused on teamwork with her colleagues, taking place over one weekend at a conference hotel. But in the midst of waiting for news about a promotion, Mona discovers that an anonymous complaint has been made against her. Soon, rivalry, jealousy and anger begin to simmer at Mona’s core.

The satirical drama is the work of Danish director William Sehested Høeg, who studies at the National Film School of Denmark and has already helmed a number of short films. As The Complaint readies to screen as part of EFP’s Future Frames at the 58th Karlovy Vary IFF (see the news), we spoke to him about his inspirations and the process of working with his sister on the film.

Cineuropa: Your film explores both corporate culture and ideas of self-help. Had you had any personal experience of these subjects, and what made you want to explore them in the film?
William Sehested Høeg: During my education at the Danish Film School, I have primarily been immersed in a community focused on self-development in a competitive environment. Therefore, it felt like a natural and compelling theme to explore in my graduation film. But the idea originally arose from a fascination with self-help. We researched various coaches, we read books, and then we finally attended a coaching seminar over one weekend at a luxury hotel. And while the screenwriter, Oscar Giese, and I were having lunch, the idea suddenly arose that there might be an exciting closed concept for a film here. A group of work colleagues attend a seminar over a weekend, so what drama can arise in a 48-hour period?

Can you tell us more about the aesthetics of the film? Was it important to you to convey this feeling of someone being contained within something of a solipsistic bubble?
It was very important! I've made a film about human facades, and how far we will go to fit in and feel recognised. And I think that the hotel as an arena fits perfectly into our story – first of all, because I loved the idea of ​​the hotel as a prison. We could squeeze a lot of characters into a closed, “plastic fantastic” environment without the possibility of escape. And in addition, I think a hotel is a great illusion of an outer facade. It's always clean, the food often looks more delicious than it is, and everyone is polite – but it's often very generic and an image of how they want to be perceived, more than a real personality.

Everything in the film is from Mona’s point of view. Again, was it important to you to show everything as perceived through her experiences and not those of other characters?
It was a very conscious choice. I wanted to make a hyper-subjective film about a supremely insecure person who creates “enemy” images everywhere. I wanted us to feel Mona's paranoia in our own bodies, so it quickly became a dogma that we should never have a scene without her. I also think that it contributes to the film's suspense that you never get a break or time to breathe, because Mona doesn't either. She is constantly on full alert throughout the film.

Emma Sehested Høeg is great as Mona. She is also your sister. Did you always have her in mind for the lead?
There has always been this dream for us to work together on a larger project. We have been making films together since elementary school, and Emma has also played roles in several short films that I made before applying to the National Film School of Denmark. But with The Complaint, we decided to test our professional collaboration on the biggest project so far. We both recognise the strength of knowing each other so well when working with personal themes. As a director, I haven't had anywhere to hide, but it has only strengthened the film that I have had that collaboration with my sister, who constantly dared to push me and say that it only becomes more exciting when you dare to expose yourself.

What projects do you have coming up?
I am working on my feature debut, together with the same producer and screenwriter as on our graduation film. It is a personal story that, in short, is about a mother's struggle to help her son, who is being bullied in a Danish primary school. It’s about the dynamics that arise between the parents of kids in a school class when someone's children are accused of bullying, and how the bureaucratic system takes care of such a case, plus how difficult the truth can be to determine, as situations are often told and retold by children. As with The Complaint, we want to make a dark comedy about what such a case does to a small community in Denmark.