So this is the first (and hopefully not the last) film I'll be seeing virtually for the London Film Festival, which is pretty exciting because usually I don't get the chance to do that since if this year went ahead as planned, all of this would've been happening in London rather than nationwide. Unfortunately because the booking system didn't even work on my browser (fix that BFI) I missed out on a bunch of tickets I wanted, so I had to hold off and wait for some extra tickets to become available, and luckily just at the last minute I got a ticket for Another Round, which was the main film in the virtual lineup I wanted to catch.

I'd never seen any of Thomas Vinterberg's other films, but I'd always heard good things, and I was hearing great reviews for this one, so I really wanted to catch it at LFF while I could, since it's a foreign language film and probably wouldn't be available for me to watch when it gets an eventually UK release.

I'm very glad I watched it though, because this film was excellent. It explores alcoholism and addiction by bringing you along for that ride. At first, the 4 teachers are only drinking a very small amount in order to feel happier and more engaged in their dull lives, and for a while the film is pretty fun, but then all of a sudden it hits you with the sobering reality of alcoholism and what it can do to people. One little glass becomes two, then three, then it's used as a dependency that you need all of the time in order to feel. It plays this tonal shift so perfectly.

It's well written and the 4 main teachers all give great performances, obviously Mads is the lead and the standout, but wasn't completely carrying the movie because everybody was just as great.
The cinematography is also fantastic. It has this very handheld, floaty vibe to it. Some of the scenes are just shot and lit so beautifully and complimentary to its story and emotions.

It's really a great movie. The ending took a little bit to click for me what it was actually saying or implying. I feel like it's a kinda Whiplash ending, where you can view it as a good or bad ending and each argument towards that is equally valid. But as a whole, very great film that makes me want to go back through Vinterberg's filmography.

Also Mads Mikkelsen dancing, best scene of 2020 confirmed.