20/02/2025 - BERLINALE 2025: Trine Dyrholm’s powerhouse performance drives Jeanette Nordahl’s second feature, a sophisticated, grounded and universally relatable family drama

A new, tightly crafted Nordic family drama is the latest offering by Danish director Jeanette Nordahl, whose feature debut, Wildlands [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jeanette Nordahl
film profile], already showcased her ability for economical storytelling and nuanced psychological portraiture. Now, led by a powerhouse performance from Trine Dyrholm, Beginnings [+see also:
interview: Jeanette Nordahl
film profile] has had its world premiere in the Berlinale’s Panorama.

Dyrholm plays marine biologist Ane, who is in the process of separating from her husband Thomas (David Dencik, most recently seen in Together 99 [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] and The Kingdom Exodus [+see also:
series review
trailer
interview: Asta Kamma August
interview: Hubert Toint and Mark Denes…
series profile]), a social worker in a centre for troubled youth. They still haven’t told their kids, aspiring teenage gymnast Clara (remarkable first-timer Bjørk Storm) and ten-year-old Marie (Luna Fuglsang Svelmøe), as they first need to decide how things are going to work after Thomas moves in with his new girlfriend, his co-worker Stine (Johanne Louise Schmidt).

Early dialogues between the couple quickly reveal the resentment and irritations inherent in old, faded love, but there is a clear understanding and a common wish to make it as easy as possible on the kids. One simple but quietly powerful scene displays Ane’s keen awareness of her waning, middle-aged looks. After she suddenly suffers a stroke, leaving the left side of her body paralysed, Thomas decides to stay at home until she gets better, but his frustration is evident. Stine, in the meantime, seems to be full of patience and understanding, but Nordahl, like in most aspects of the film, counts on the audience to discern her deeper feelings.

Returning home from the hospital, Ane is distant, bitter and angry, as exemplified in a painfully uncomfortable family-lunch scene. This particularly affects Clara, and for the exasperated Thomas, his more judgemental side overpowers his compassion, giving the audience an intense glimpse of the inner workings of his mind.

As she goes through physical therapy, Ane starts building up both her physical strength and her emotional resilience, turning the bitterness into spiteful energy. Dyrholm’s performance here is bold and raw: the woman who comfortably scuba-dived in the film’s opening scene is now putting her all into swimming in the pool by using only one side of her body. And as she gradually regains her footing, reminding Thomas and herself of who they used to be, the tenderness and closeness the couple have clearly not experienced in years reawaken. But maybe the driven Ane is not entirely aware of her capabilities, leading to a sobering third act.

Working from a tautly precise script co-written with Rasmus Birch (Acts of Love [+see also:
film review
interview: Jeppe Rønde
film profile], Miss Viborg [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marianne Blicher
film profile]), Nordahl crafts a sophisticated yet simple and grounded film with carefully placed, brief flashes of poetry and humour. DoP Shadi Chaban films classically in both interiors and exteriors, with natural-looking lighting and slightly muted, cold colours, where a few shots with a complex mise-en-scène stand out in key psychological moments. Rasmus Gitz-Johansen’s sensitive editing aptly reflects the precarious balance of Ane’s state of mind, as well as Clara’s and Marie’s tender, bumpy process of growing up through emotional adversity.

With a keen understanding of the human experience, Nordahl and Birch know exactly how much to show and how much to imply, painting a compelling portrait of a complex, universally relatable family situation.

Beginnings is a co-production between Denmark’s Snowglobe, Sweden’s HOBAB and Belgium’s Lemming Film. REinvent handles the international rights.