Göteborg Film Festival awarded its top Nordic prize to The Last Resort on Saturday night, giving director Maria Sødahl the Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film and a cash prize of SEK 400,000. In its citation, the jury praised the film as a “courageous” and “melancholic” portrait that finds emotional force in what goes unsaid, then turns raw vulnerability into catharsis shaped by love and grief.
The film, sold internationally by TrustNordisk, centers on a Scandinavian family on an all-inclusive holiday in Gran Canaria. A late-night accident—hitting a man with their car—doesn’t end when they drive away. The injured stranger later appears at their hotel and asks for help, pulling the family into escalating requests that test their self-image and their appetite for risk. The cast includes Danica Ćurčić and Espen Smed, and the completed feature runs 98 minutes.
The win capped a Nordic competition built around premieres and market visibility, with Sødahl’s film billed as a key title in the festival’s 2026 lineup. Festival organizers confirmed the Dragon Award result in an official announcement that also listed the Audience Dragon Award Best Nordic Film going to The Quiet Beekeeper. Swedish outlet reporting on the closing gala noted additional honors, including a best-actor win for Adam Lundgren.
Sødahl’s breakthrough at Gothenburg lands during a high-profile stretch for Scandinavian cinema on the international circuit. Sentimental Value by Joachim Trier swept six major trophies at the European Film Awards in mid-January, including best film and director, with acting prizes for Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgård and a composer win for Hania Rani. That kind of awards-season momentum has helped keep Nordic titles in front of buyers and programmers, even as the market grows tougher for adult dramas without a franchise hook.
