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Border
Gräns
2018 110 min Denmark, Sweden R 18+
★7.5
Fantasy, Drama, Crime
Director: Ali Abbasi
🎭 Based on
«Let the Old Dreams Die»
byJohn Ajvide Lindqvist
Trailers
EN
EN
EN
Description
When a border guard with a sixth sense for identifying smugglers encounters the first person she cannot prove is guilty, she is forced to confront terrifying revelations about herself and humankind.
US Gross:
$771,930
Worldwide:
$2M
Starring
Eva Melander
Actor
Eero Milonoff
Actor
Jörgen Thorsson
Actor
Awards
Cannes Film Festival 2018
— Un Certain Regard
European Film Awards 2018
— Best Visual Effects
European Film Awards 2019
— Audience Award
European Film Awards 2018
— Best Screenplay
Academy Awards 2019
— Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Goya Awards 2020
— Best European Film
Cannes Film Festival 2018
— Un Certain Regard
European Film Awards 2018
— Best Visual Effects
European Film Awards 2018
— Best Director
Saturn Awards 2019
— Best International Feature Film
Key opinion
Gräns is a polarizing genre-hybrid that blends Norse mythology with social realism, challenging viewers with its unsettling, grotesque aesthetic and unconventional themes. While some praise its daring exploration of identity and self-acceptance, others find the narrative’s moral ambiguity and reliance on shock value to be alienating or intentionally repulsive.
| Acting | The performances by Eva Melander and Eero Milonoff anchor the film with a compelling, earnest intensity that allows the characters to feel grounded despite their surreal origins. | |
| Production | The cinematography and production design effectively use grim, naturalistic Scandinavian landscapes to underscore the film's themes of alienation and connection to nature. | |
| Production | The film’s aesthetic is highly divisive: supporters find the grotesque, unglamorous visuals to be an authentic and immersive 'alien' experience, while detractors find them unnecessarily ugly and off-putting. | |
| Screenplay | The screenplay presents a genre-blurring narrative that leads to split reactions; some appreciate the bold, experimental blend of fantasy and social drama, while others find the allegorical meaning to be vague and the thematic intentions frustratingly opaque. | |
| Pacing | The pacing is viewed as a deliberate, contemplative crawl that rewards patient viewers, though it leaves those expecting a traditional thriller or fairy tale feeling exhausted or bored. |