How many rounds is too many: A review of Another Round

By Chloe Brussard

Who doesn't love a good beer? A nice glass of wine? Maybe the occasional shot of hard liqueur? 

I know that as a college student, I don't mind any of those. In moderation.

Another Round, directed by Thomas Vinterberg and premiering in 2020 is a Danish two-hour long comedy/thriller about four teachers who start an experiment to drink alcohol throughout the day to see the changes it can make in their current miserable lives.

The star of the movie, Mads Mikkelsen is most recognized for his work in American television and cinema. He played the infamous cannibal Hannibal Lector in the show Hannibal as well as the villainous sorcerer Kaecilius in the first Doctor Strange film.  

Mads Mikkelsen stars as Martin, one of the four teachers who embarks on this experiment. It comes to fruition at a dinner party, when Nikolaj (Magnus Millang) brings up a Norweigian philosopher and psychiatrist named Finn Skårderud, who believes that all humans are born with a 0.05% alcohol level.

The idea is that if people maintain a 0.05% BAC (blood alcohol content) it makes you more relaxed and it makes life more "poised and musical and open."

Martin's peers, Nikolaj, Peter (Lars Ranthe) and Tommy (Thomas Bo Larson) believe that it will make him happy and it will make his life as a professor more interesting. At this dinner, Martin becomes emotional, talking about how he doesn't get out much, see any friends or see his wife Anika who works at night. 

All these emotions are evoked through the very thing he was trying to avoid at the beginning of the night - alcohol.

After a fun night out, the four friends band together to test Skårderud's hypothesis, to "collect evidence of verbal-motor and psycho-rhetorical effects and study of increased social and professional performances."

From a glass of wine in the morning to alcohol in a portable cup, these four men slowly see this experiment going as a success. Martin's once boring class is now more interesting and upbeat, Peter connects better with his music students, Nikolaj becomes a better family man to his wife and children and Tommy bonds with his youth soccer team.

As these men start to feel better with themselves, their lives start to take a turn, but not for the better. After the experiment began, a stash of alcohol hidden at school gets confiscated and it all gets blamed on the students. They decide to be more careful with their consumption but they're in too deep now.

Supposed to be a comedy but not necessarily getting there, I thought this film was a depressing and sad depiction of some realities. From the lighting to the levelness of the camera, this is a film that will leave you thinking about how you live your life and if alcohol is the only way to make someone truly happy.

Not that any of this story is typical, but this movie highlights the struggles that everyday people go through and it shows how sometimes people who are alcoholics don't see themselves as such. These friends are using the excuse of testing the hypothesis to drink, but their lives slowly descend into chaos.

Starting slow but moving into a fast paced and captivating film, Another Round features these four men using an experiment to justify their drinking problem, creating chaos around them.

The Danish must have a different definition of comedy. Just because the actors were laughing doesn't necessarily mean that the audience is.

Director: Thomas Vinterberg

Release date: December 4, 2020

Language: Danish

Genre: Comedy / thriller

Length: 1 hour 57 minutes

Where to watch: Tubi

Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Magnus Millang, Lars Ranthe

Rating: Not rated

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