Directed by:
Hans Petter MolandScreenplay:
Nikolaj ArcelCinematography:
John Andreas AndersenComposer:
Nicklas SchmidtCast:
Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Fares Fares, Pål Sverre Hagen, Jacob Lohmann, Amanda Collin, Johanne Louise Schmidt, Jakob Oftebro, Signe Mannov, Søren Pilmark (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
A desperate message in a bottle, written in blood by a boy being held captive, is received eight years after it was sent. It leads renegade cold case detectives Carl Mørck (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) and Assad (Fares Fares) to a shadowy religious community connected with a string of missing and murdered children - including two whose lives hang in the balance. The latest film in the gripping Department Q series - which have shattered box office records abroad - is another taut, tightly crafted whodunit steeped in chilling Gothic atmosphere. (IFC Films)
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Reviews (7)
A Conspiracy of Faith is a film of two completely different parts. I don't know if they are equally long, because subjectively the exposition of the story seemed too slow and about as exciting and captivating as a Christian documentary. The movie theater screen should help the film, but somehow I hesitated and thought that a television screen would be more than enough for this. But then came the scene where the ransom for the kidnapped siblings is supposed to be handed over on the train, and suddenly it looks as if a cyclist staggering somewhere at the tail end of the peloton realizes that he doesn't want to stay last and gives it his all. The dynamics change incredibly and suddenly you understand what the magic and global success of Scandinavian crime is all about. You have a jam-packed spectacle that does not spare any blood or shocking twists, and it engulfs you completely. But when the end credits start, you begin to think and certain doubts arise about the errors in logic that you didn't notice before. It's somewhere between 3 and 4 stars, but in the case of such highly-rated films, I usually choose a lower rating. The acting is decent and the subject matter is also unconventional, but the mistakes are simply noticeable. Overall impression: 65%.
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Moland finally directed a film out of it and not an expensive pilot of a series. Black humor was added, which it lacked a lot. Unfortunately, in an attempt to remove a rather procedural model of twists and conflicts, he turned the second half of the film into a slightly absurd and illogical spectacle. The discomfort is further enhanced by the performance of Pål Sverre Hagen, whose monster is a rather awkward mixture of pederast and the square root of Javier Bardem.
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Nikolaj Lie Kaas was an absolutely great choice for the main role because his stern face and minimalism fit well with the character, making you unsure whether he's brilliant or simply uncertain. Certain illogicalities or rather unnecessary elements taken from the book slightly detract from the film, as they were included to avoid further truncation; for example, the murderer's "mistress" doesn't have much justification in the film. Still, it's an excellent thriller that will give you chills.
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The first half of the film is slower paced, while the second half showers us with excellent scenes like the train, the hospital and the finale, where the atmosphere can be sliced, the tension is swirling and there is a solid villain. The highlight of the trilogy was the middle part, but the final part is a good second; the opening part was only average. 75%
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The routine and unsurprising first half suddenly changed into something more brutal, suspenseful and dark, which is
very satisfying. The villain is decent, like a weaker Edward Norton, but he cannot hold a candle to the beastly duo from
the second part. The third part doesn’t match the complexity of the second (The Absent One) or the overall quality of
the first (The Keeper of Lost Causes), but it remains a well-crafted genre film.
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