Into the Darkness (2020) User Reviews

Its good and its just okay at the same time

[nickpedersen · 7/10 · 7 May 2020]

I was looking forward to this movie. Its about a family trying to do the right thing to get through the occupation by Germany, as easy and painless as possible. But the germans, and the situation, keeps crawling in on the family.

My first issue is that you get thrown into the movie, and the actors. You dont get time to know them first. That means that for the first 30 minutes you struggle to find out who is who...

And my second issue that the family gets into way to much stuff! Damn.... Its like they are the whole war!!!

And then it suddently ends! Just like that! Cut! You search a little on Google and finds out that there will be a part two. And it will be released in 2022! They are filming it as I write this.

Ending left me in the Dark

[bryangary65 · 6/10 · 26 July 2021]

Interesting from the Danish point of view in World War 2

But film took time to get you involved and then when you were it ended....badly!

Fine, but too long...

[mattiasvnielsen · 5/10 · 4 June 2020]

Decent acting, but varies from actor to actor. The main problem is that the movie is just too long to be frank! I wouldnt say its a waste of time to watch it, but its not a 'must watch'. Plenty of better danish 2. World War movies if you ask me.

It just ends

[lambertrecovery · 6/10 · 16 October 2021]

I liked this film as I'm a big fan of Jesper Christian (Spectre) and WWll films. It does a good job of showing the different beliefs/loyalties about the German invasion of Denmark within one well off Danish family. The industrialist Father makes compromises with the Germans to support his family while his two sons go in opposite directions one supports the Germans the other fights for them. It's all well done and compelling and then there is no conclusion which is okay I guess cause war is messy and inconclusive. But that doesn't make for good entertainment. Fortunately (?) another reviewer says they are currently working on a "part ll" for this film. Together, they might make a great film.

Profound

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 8/10 · 5 September 2020]

Starting on April 9th 1940, this follows a Danish family, and the friends, colleagues and such, of its various members, as they struggle through the moral grey area, the non-stop compromising, that can be unavoidable when trying to live your life in an occupied nation during a World War. Agreeing to work with with the Nazis sounds like tacit support of them, but what what if is the only way to to avoid having to fire dozens of people with families to feed?

While I haven't read the novel upon which this is based, I can say without a doubt that this is one of the book adaptations that appreciates the challenges that come with that. It manages to handle a massive amount of material, with over a dozen major characters, involved in a handful of different subplots(one could argue that there might be a couple too many), without simply ending up overwhelming. It does move very fast, and there are definitely times where you struggle to keep up with why this or that person behaved in a certain way, as their growth sometimes flies by and it's hard to keep up with it. There are times where it goes from one of these storylines to another too abruptly. This is definitely a movie that requires the viewer have a strong base of knowledge about Denmark during WWII. It is not going to hold your hand, and you are frankly going to be confused, if you go into this not knowing very much about that. The acting is convincing and these all feel like real people. You've known people similar to them in your own life. Some events are dramatised, yet most of this is credible and authentic.

This contains a little bloody violence, as well as brief sexuality and nudity. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys fiction dealing with the period. 8/10

Uneven

[micke-bystrom · 5/10 · 2 October 2022]

I watched this because I knew very little about the danish situation during the second world war nazi occupation. The story about the family is woven as a string of episodes only loosely connected with the major developments. Things do happen in the stories of multiple family members and others, but expected consequences of actions and what occurs are to a large extent absent and unexplained.

The characters of Jesper Christensen , Bodil Jørgensen and Mads Reuther make the strongest impressions of the Skovs with Gustav Dyekjær Giese and Sara Viktoria Bjerregaard surprisingly bleak despite strong developments in their life stories. All personal stories are quite shallow so it's hard to get engaged in any of them.

Unfortunately, the looseness of the storytelling inhibits the potential in the story, despite the possibilities a more held together presentation could have achieved. Therefore I don't think this is a film one must see, but the actors are not terrible and if the subject interests you it could be worth a watch. Just don't expect anything epic or spectacular.

Interesting film

[WillInDenmark · 9/10 · 9 April 2023]

De Forbandede År, directed by Anders Refn, is a gripping portrayal of the Danish resistance during the Nazi occupation of Denmark. The film centers around the complicated relationships between a group of characters trying to survive during the war.

The characters are complex and interesting, each with their own motives and struggles. The main character, Kar Skov (Jesper Kristensen) l, is a successful businessman who is torn between his loyalty to his family and his country. He becomes involved in the resistance, but as the war goes on, he begins to question his actions and those of his fellow resistance fighters.

The film does an excellent job of capturing the uncertainty of how to feel about the actions of people during war. It shows how divided loyalties can make it difficult to know who to trust and what to do. The relationships between the characters are also explored in depth, showing how war can put a strain on even the closest of bonds.

One particularly interesting aspect of the film is its portrayal of the Danish police force during the occupation. Many Danish police officers chose to collaborate with the Nazis, but some also worked with the resistance. This added a layer of complexity to the film and showed that not everyone's actions during the war were black and white.

Overall, De Forbandede År is a thought-provoking film that explores the complexities of war and the human relationships that are impacted by it. The director, Anders Refn, does an excellent job of creating a tense and emotional atmosphere throughout the film, and the performances of the cast are top-notch. It is a must-see for anyone interested in World War II history or human relationships during times of crisis.

A wasted opportunity

[claus-christensen-566-593365 · 4/10 · 24 May 2020]

So much could have been made of this. But what a dissappointment.

Worth Watching.

[crumpytv · 8/10 · 3 September 2022]

This is very interesting from a historical point of view.

There have been many films set during World War II but this has an insight as to what it was like in Denmark following the German occupation.

Many uncertainties were faced within families and the business community. Many a moral dilemma in the latter. Go under through the loss of orders from allied countries, or "collaborate" with the Germans and continue the business ... and make lots of money.

The allergenics within families were put to the test. I was reminded of the same thing happening in the American Civil War.

The film was long, but I didn't watch it in one hit and overall I thought it was very good.

As for the inconclusive ending, well, that is life as it really is, rather then everything being tidied up.

Very good...and then it stops

[kirkupjeff · 8/10 · 15 November 2023]

WWII history is an interest of mine, so this movie caught my eye when scrolling for WWII films I had not yet seen.

The occupation of Denmark by the Nazis is of particular interest to me after studying WWII and reading novels like "Hornet Flight" by Ken Follett.

This movie starts out very broad. There are a wide range of characters and the film does a good job of providing some depth to each of them. This, in my opinion, is the best part of the movie.

A wealthy industrialist Danske family navigates the occupation in a variety of ways due to conflicting opinions within the immediate and extended family.

It was a historically accurate film with views from both sides of the war that sadly ended far too quickly, leaving the audience craving more from the characters so deeply introduced.