VIFF Review: ‘Another Round’ has Mads Mikkelsen giving one of the best performances of the year

Mads Mikkelsen / Another Round

Most people have had, or will have, a moment like the one Martin (Mads Mikkelsen) is having at the start of Another Round. Coasting through life, disengaged from his work as a school teacher, the parents of his students organise an intervention because they know their children are going to be ill-prepared. Disengaged from his home life, exacerbated by his wife working nights as he is working days, or is that her choice because he is simply not present?

At dinner with four colleagues one night, following a confession that he knows he has lost something but can’t exactly put his finger on what, someone hypothesises that the human body has a 0.05% blood alcohol deficiency; that people are more relaxed, more confident, and better able to achieve when they are just slightly drunk. Martin and his friends decide to put this hypothesis to the test.

The idea of being slightly drunk all the time sounds like an appealing one, empowering even. The fantastic thing about having slightly less than two drinks is that it can feel like anything is possible[1]. The problem with having slightly less than two drinks is it leads to the urge to have slightly more than two drinks.

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