Synopsis
Utøya: July 22 (Utøya 22. juli, 2018) is Erik Poppe's Norwegian drama, available to watch online on iFILM. A summer youth camp on an island in the fjord, a warm afternoon — then a crack of gunfire somewhere past the trees.
Nineteen-year-old Kaja came here with her younger sister Emilie, and the two have just quarreled again. Once it becomes clear that someone is moving through the camp shooting, Kaja runs to find her among the hiding teenagers. Poppe shot most of the film in a single unbroken 72-minute take — the exact length of the real ordeal. The camera never leaves Andrea Berntzen's face; the gunman is mostly heard, rarely seen. The film deliberately withholds the attacker's name, keeping its gaze on the victims instead.
It draws on what happened on July 22, 2011, when dozens of young activists were killed on an island near Oslo. Rather than reconstruct the timeline like a document, Poppe invents one girl to convey the feeling of those minutes instead of the facts. A harrowing, almost unbearable watch — go in knowing what it asks of you. It premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. Stream Utøya: July 22 (2018) online on iFILM.
Starring
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