Mellem Væggene
2016 · 8m · Denmark
Directed by Sara Jespersen Holm
Genres: drama, family, fantasy
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, whimsical
An uninspired writer is stuck between the walls of his home, and the negative energy around him materializes as black crows only his young daughter Mille can see. Open-minded Mille creates a little white bird that fills her with joy, while her father unconsciously projects his frustrations onto her.
Picked by Zoe
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The premise promises surrealism—dad's angst manifesting as ravens—but it plays it almost *too* straight, landing somewhere between Scandinavian TV drama and children's book illustration. It's the kind of clever-on-paper idea that feels domesticated the moment you film it.
Holm demonstrates assured control of tone and visual metaphor, drawing clear lineage to Nordic pastoral fabulism; the counterpoint of black and white bird imagery is formally precise, though the execution stays safely within the registers we've seen before.
That choice to let the daughter be the one who *creates* joy rather than just receives it—giving her agency through imagination while the father remains trapped—is the hinge the whole film turns on, and Holm commits to it without sentimentality.