A mother is called to her child’s school for an urgent meeting with his teachers in the Norwegian film Armand, a riff on a claustrophobic courtroom thriller set in a primary school classroom.
The film, which won the best first feature prize at Cannes last year, doles out bits and pieces of information slowly and purposefully, building not a solid set of answers but a web of complications and ambiguities. It is a strange and fascinating experience that may be a bit frustratingly inconclusive but is never not compelling.
Even the inciting incident is withheld from the audience for a time. We’re thrown into a conversation between a junior teacher, Sunna (Thea Lambrechts Vaulen), an administrator type Asja (Vera Veljovic) and the school’s principal, Jarle (Øysten Røger). Asja and Jarle are entrusting Sunna to lead this conversation (though they’ll have to join eventually). None of them are even quite sure what exactly happened, whether it was innocent or malicious, or what to do if they can get to the bottom of it. Jarle advises Sunna to treat it soberly, whatever that’s supposed to mean.
Not even Armand’s mother Elisabeth (The Worst Person in the World’s Renate Reinsve) gets a hint as to what the meeting is about. She’s a famous actress whose career has come to a halt and who has been tabloid fodder recently. Elisabeth arrives at the classroom first and wants answers, understandably. Sunna must awkwardly delay providing any information until the other parents arrive to Elisabeth’s increasing frustration. Sunna even stammers something reassuring that it’s not too bad. She is, of course, lying because the accusation is serious and beyond any of their depths.
Armand’s classmate Jon has apparently told his parents, Sarah (Ellen Dorrit Petersen) and Anders (Endre Hellestve) that Armand has sexually abused and threatened him. They’re both 6-year-olds.
