De Ofrivilliga (Ruben Östlund, 2008)

Involuntary flits between five parallel stories with group behaviour as a common theme; teenage girls out drinking, a coach driver taking a stand against his passengers, a schoolteacher with a grievance against a colleague, a bunch of young men on a rowdy weekend and a birthday party where an accident occurs. The director has a keen eye for the minutiae of social interaction, and certainly at many moments the film is excruciatingly true to life. However, he's also overly fond of the static and obstructed camera position just for the sake of it, even when the action in no way demands or benefits from it. It would also have been welcome to have some overall message instead of falling back on the lazy safety net of life having no neat and tidy ends. It's therefore a series of well-observed vignettes rather than an actual film. However, there is clearly a germinating talent present and by 2014's Force Majeure a clear refinement can be seen in the director's process.

5/10