Involuntary

Ruben Östlund
2008
1h 38m
Sweden, France

A film about personal fears and inner demons, under the pressure of society. Through five small, separate episodes of everyday disaster, Ruben Östlund's perceptive eye observes the suffocating bonds in a middle class on the brink of change. Premiere at the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard.

Synopsis

A coach driver on his customary rest stop, discovers that someone has damaged the curtain in the coach's toilet, and decides that no passenger will leave until the culprit decides to confess. 30-year-old Leif and his friends pull a prank that for some seems to cross all limits. Two teenage girls pose in front of their camera. A boy's parents arrange to set off fireworks for his birthday. When a firework doesn't go off properly, the host gets injured, but doesn't tell anyone for fear of spoiling the fun. When a teacher learns that a colleague hit a student, she uses a classroom psychological experiment to uncover the truth. What connects all these faces and all these stories? The pressure of society as a whole, against personal fears.