A Day and a Half Parent Guide

It’s another normal day at a Swedish health clinic, until a man brandishing a gun bursts in and demands to see his wife. The man, Artan (Alexej Manvelov) claims that his wife, Louise (Alma Pöysti) has kidnapped their daughter. One police officer, Lukas (Fares Fares), is allowed into the hostage scene to try to negotiate with Artan, but soon finds himself driving Arten and Louise across Sweden as Arten negotiates for his family and his life.

A Day and a Half is a small film with three characters who spend the majority of the run time in a car. To pull off this deep character study with little distraction takes a deft hand at writing and some incredible acting. Fortunately, this movie has both of those things. The script is clear without being simplistic. All three main characters are deep and flawed, and the audience is slowly given access to their experiences as the story unfolds. Although Artan’s actions are unconscionable, the audience comes to understand what drove him to this place where he feels a need to take such drastic measures. Louise and Lukas also have deep motivations for the choices they make, and the script makes time to properly explore each character. Although this film is listed as a thriller, it isn’t terribly action-packed or fast paced. That is not a bad thing, as the main purpose of this script is to explore these three people and what brought them all to this point.

With such a great script it’s fortunate that the production found three actors to carry it to its full potential. Manvelov, Pöysti, and Fares (who also serves as writer and director) all turn in Oscar-worthy performances. There are high amounts of emotion in the story, but some of the genius is in the subtle acting in the quieter moments. I was immersed in the inner struggles of these characters from the first scene and was enraptured until the credits rolled.

A Day and a Half is a fantastic movie. I was thoroughly impressed by every aspect of the filmmaking, and I think it will stick with me for some time. The main content concern of note is the swearing, which I found to be believable for the situation, but some viewers may be put off by it. I will point out that although it’s categorized as a thriller, this film might not be what audiences expect. It is a slower, more character-based thriller rather than an action-heavy one. If that sounds like something you’d enjoy, and you aren’t concerned about hearing a few F-bombs, I highly recommend A Day and a Half.