Druk (2020)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Martin	Mads Mikkelsen
Tommy	Thomas Bo Larsen
Peter	Lars Ranthe	½
Nikolaj	Magnus Millang
Anika	Maria Bonnevie	½
Rektor	Susse Wold	-
Jonas	Magnus Sjørup	-
Kasper	Silas Cornelius Van	-
Sebastian	Albert Rudbeck Lindhardt	-
Malthe	Frederik W. Rasmussen	-

Review

We all know alcohol isn't the answer to all our problems, but how undercommunicated is it not in our moralistic times that it may be the answer to a few of them? This is the starting point for Thomas Vinterberg's latest feature, Druk. A film about four burnt-out, middle-aged gymnasium teachers who decide to conduct a quasi-scientific project based on a hypothesis from Norwegian psychiatrist Finn Skårderud which theorizes that humans ought to have been born with a blood alcohol content of 0.05. Although there's an obvious folly to the basic concept here, the film's heart and wonderful understanding of its characters and the situations they find themselves in soon take dominance and elevate the discussions on alcohol from lightweight to highly perceptive. And as always with Vinterberg's films, there's no lecturing, no preconceptions, only a wonderful delve into a sea of dilemmas and paradoxes. Vinterberg wants to strip his characters, to free them from the constraints of society so that they can rediscover themselves. And in what better way could this possibly have been visualized than through Druk's beautiful ending. Mads Mikkelsen's complete, soul-searching performance is arguably his most accomplished to date. And his three companions all give heartfelt, sympathetic performances, particularly Lars Ranthe as the music teacher Peter.