Fear Me Not
Encyclopedia
Fear Me Not is a Danish
psychological thriller
film
released in 2008
, directed by Kristian Levring
. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and was produced by Nordisk Film
.
s. Mikael takes the pills without telling his wife and daughter. He writes a diary about how he feels each day and about the effects. The pills make him gradually feel more free, as if he has no boundaries. He leaves the home his wife inherited from her father and goes to stay at his mother's old rural home.
Frederick's team shuts down the experiment after several of the subjects begin to exhibit aggressive and violent behavior, including Mikael. He still refuses to let go of the freedom he thinks the pills give him, and he secretly continues to take them. Mikael begins to cross boundaries without caring about the people he hurts in the process. He begins to resent his wife and starts to hurt her, first by scalding her in the shower by turning up the water heater, and later by releasing rats into the bedroom while she sleeps. He also coerces a young woman to expose herself to him while he gives her a ride, and he seduces Frederick's wife.
When Mikael prepares to confess to Frederik, Frederik reveals that Michael has received placebo
pills all the time because he would not expose his brother-in-law to be unsafe medicines. Selma reads Mikael's diary, and in a panic Mikael locks her in the sauna
when she threatens to tell her mother. Sigrid, who has been given a sleeping pill, awakens and fights with Mikael, but he punches her and locks her in the chest freezer. Mikael decides to run away, leaving his wife and daughter trapped. Soon after he leaves, Sigrid escapes from the freezer and lets Selma free.
The film ends with Mikael, who stands at a train station after visiting his mother in a nursing home. He expresses sadness at having left his family and notes that he is still trying to figure out when and why things began to go wrong for him, but the memories still are unpleasant to contemplate.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
psychological thriller
Psychological thriller
Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the broad ranged thriller with heavy focus on characters. However, it often incorporates elements from the mystery and drama genre, along with the typical traits of the thriller genre...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
released in 2008
2008 in film
This is a list of all major films made in 2008.-Highest-grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2008...
, directed by Kristian Levring
Kristian Levring
Kristian Levring is a Danish director born in 1957. He was the fourth signatory of Dogme95 movement in cinema.-Biography:He lived eight years in France. He graduated in editing at the National Film School of Denmark and has edited a large number of documentaries and feature films besides directing...
. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and was produced by Nordisk Film
Nordisk Film
Nordisk Film , established in Denmark in 1906 by Danish filmmaker Ole Olsen, is the oldest continuously operating film studio in the world. Olsen started his company in the Copenhagen suburb of Valby under the name "Ole Olsen's Film Factory" but soon changed it to the Nordisk Film Kompagni...
.
Plot
Mikael has taken leave from work because he thinks he needs a change in life. He stays at home with his wife Sigrid and daughter Selma. Sigrid's brother, Frederick, is a scientist and needs subjects to take an experimental anti-depressant, to see if there are side effectSide effect
In medicine, a side effect is an effect, whether therapeutic or adverse, that is secondary to the one intended; although the term is predominantly employed to describe adverse effects, it can also apply to beneficial, but unintended, consequences of the use of a drug.Occasionally, drugs are...
s. Mikael takes the pills without telling his wife and daughter. He writes a diary about how he feels each day and about the effects. The pills make him gradually feel more free, as if he has no boundaries. He leaves the home his wife inherited from her father and goes to stay at his mother's old rural home.
Frederick's team shuts down the experiment after several of the subjects begin to exhibit aggressive and violent behavior, including Mikael. He still refuses to let go of the freedom he thinks the pills give him, and he secretly continues to take them. Mikael begins to cross boundaries without caring about the people he hurts in the process. He begins to resent his wife and starts to hurt her, first by scalding her in the shower by turning up the water heater, and later by releasing rats into the bedroom while she sleeps. He also coerces a young woman to expose herself to him while he gives her a ride, and he seduces Frederick's wife.
When Mikael prepares to confess to Frederik, Frederik reveals that Michael has received placebo
Placebo
A placebo is a simulated or otherwise medically ineffectual treatment for a disease or other medical condition intended to deceive the recipient...
pills all the time because he would not expose his brother-in-law to be unsafe medicines. Selma reads Mikael's diary, and in a panic Mikael locks her in the sauna
Sauna
A sauna is a small room or house designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these and auxiliary facilities....
when she threatens to tell her mother. Sigrid, who has been given a sleeping pill, awakens and fights with Mikael, but he punches her and locks her in the chest freezer. Mikael decides to run away, leaving his wife and daughter trapped. Soon after he leaves, Sigrid escapes from the freezer and lets Selma free.
The film ends with Mikael, who stands at a train station after visiting his mother in a nursing home. He expresses sadness at having left his family and notes that he is still trying to figure out when and why things began to go wrong for him, but the memories still are unpleasant to contemplate.
Cast
- Ulrich ThomsenUlrich ThomsenUlrich Thomsen is a Danish actor.Thomsen was born in Fyn, Denmark and graduated from the Danish National School of Theatre and Contemporary Dance in 1993, after which playing on several theatres in Copenhagen, such as Dr. Dantes Aveny, Mungo Park and Østre Gasværks Teater.His film debut was in...
- Mikael - Paprika SteenPaprika SteenPaprika Steen is a Danish actress and film director best known for her performances in the films Festen, The Idiots and Open Hearts...
- Sigrid - Emma Sehested Høeg - Selma
- Lars BrygmannLars Brygmann- Career :Lars Brygmann was educated at the private actors school Tsarens Hof in 1987 and has since then been connected with the theaters Får302, Dr. Dante, Mungo Park, and Østre Gasværk Teater. His debut on film and TV was in 1995.- Family :...
- Frederik - Stine StengadeStine StengadeStine Stengade is a Danish actress best known for her leading role in the 2001 Dogme 95 film Kira's Reason: A Love Story .-Biography:...
- Ellen - Bjarne Henriksen - Kenneth
- Bodil UdsenBodil UdsenBodil Udsen was a Danish actress.She was a student at the Rysensteen Gymnasium in Copenhagen in 1944 and entered film in 1955...
- Edith