In “Armand,” Norway’s official entry for the 2025 Academy Awards’ Best International Feature category, Renate Reinsve gives an amazing performance. The movie is a psychological drama about a mother dealing with a terrible school problem.
The movie, which premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, is about an actor named Elisabeth whose career has been put on hold while she deals with serious accusations about her young son and another student. Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel, who is related to movie legends Liv Ullmann and Ingmar Bergman, created the part just for Reinsve.
According to Reinsve, “This is the hardest role I’ve ever done,” which shows how difficult the role was for her physically and mentally. She cared so much about the role that she had to stay in bed for two months after shooting in 2022.
One of the best parts of the movie is a scene with a long dramatic breakdown that lasts almost ten minutes. At first, Reinsve thought the process was impossible. She told Tandel, “I won’t be able to do it.” But after months of studying her character, she turned her original doubt into a strong performance.
People who saw Tøndel’s innovative direction said that some of the dance and movement parts were “reminiscent of Bob Fosse’s worst nightmares.” These scenes were very hard on Reinsve’s body, and they required a lot of work to prepare for.
The complicated plot of the movie shows that Elisabeth and the mother of the other child have a deeper connection: they used to be sisters-in-law, which adds more stress to an already explosive plot.
Even though the production was hard, Reinsve and Tøndel have already planned to work together again. “We have a really strong and deep understanding of each other,” Reinsve said, pointing out that they both had the same artistic goals.
“Armand” will start its awards-qualifying run in New York on November 29, 2024. On February 7, 2025, IFC Films plans a limited release, and on Valentine’s Day 2025, the movie will be shown in more theaters.
