REVIEWS
"It’s not easy to make a film about a
life-threatening illness that is as rich and joyous as this one can be,
perfectly balanced at other times by the very real stakes. Hovig and
Skarsgård are both excellent, their rapport speaking of years of
cohabitation and habit. The children, young and old, are equally solid,
their pain driving Anya’s determination to survive at all costs. By the
end, no matter the outcome, we recognize that we have spent time in the
company of people worth knowing, and of a director who values our time
spent watching her story." ...Christopher Reed, Hammer to
Nail
"The maturity of the writer-director's
gaze and the highly personal nature of material drawn from her own
difficult experience bring an affecting gravitas to that most
over-trafficked of subgenres, the cancer movie. Factor in two layered
performances of penetrating emotional acuity from Andrea Braein Hovig
and Stellan Skarsgård and you have a
melancholy but highly satisfying adult drama." ...David
Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
"Hope provides its own union, a warm gathering of Scandinavian
artists, with Sweden’s Skarsgård and Norway’s Hovig both excelling under
Norwegian director Maria Sødahl’s attentive care. Their swings of
emotion – from surly silences to tender handholding to frantic, almost
hostile lovemaking – are all painfully real and carefully captured."
...Stephen Whitty, Screen Daily
"Hovig and Skarsgård are masterful in their dynamic, providing
near-documentary levels of believability to their characters. The dance
between acceptance of the vagaries of fate and that even more complex
emotion which gives the film its title pulls the characters apart,
making for some moving and often harrowing moments that feel firmly
rooted in reality." ...Jason Gorber, Slash Film
"Hovig and Skarsgård give complex performances as two largely kind,
professionally ambitious people in a difficult situation. You really
believe they’ve built a family together, with all the joys and
sacrifices that entails." ...Alex Heeney, Seventh Row
"It’s not easy to make a film about a life-threatening illness
that is as rich and joyous as this one can be, perfectly balanced at
other times by the very real stakes. Hovig and Skarsgård are both
excellent, their rapport speaking of years of cohabitation and habit.
The children, young and old, are equally solid, their pain driving
Anya’s determination to survive at all costs. By the end, no matter the
outcome, we recognize that we have spent time in the company of people
worth knowing, and of a director who values our time spent watching her
story." ...Christopher Llewellyn Reed. Hammer to Nail
"Hovig is more than capable to take us on her character's journey and
delivers a breathtaking performance. Skarsgård's
solemn delivery pairs beautifully with Hovig's. It's through his tender
approach and his support of Anja that we have some emotional
foundation." ...Quelle Movies
"Skarsgård is great in those quiet moments of self-reflection and
empathy his Tomas previously avoided, but it’s Hovig who stuns in the
loud exchanges catalyzing them... That Sødahl writes this story with the
authenticity to confront such realities via characters unafraid to air
their frustrations and accept them without judgment is revelatory."
...Jared Mobarak, The Film Stage
"In a most autobiographical move, Sødahl faces her past with realism and
delivers an organically emotional, never melodramatic work whose raw and
unpretentious approach is extremely moving and always remains truthful
to her own experience. This delicate emotional complexity is brought out
by the captivating and affecting performances from the cast." ...Vassilis
Economou, Cineuropa
"'Hope' is clear-eyed, frank, and at times pitiless. In an alternate
dimension, one that valued truth and clarity in popular art, this film
might be considered an Oscar contender." ...Michael
Sicinski, Cinema Scope
"Neither Anja nor Tomas are sanctified. They’re presented as a couple
trying to prove to themselves that their relationship is as authentic
and uncompromised as they thought it to be. Domesticity continues, as
Hope takes viewers through certain essential emotional beats, all with
quiet efficiency. Though the presupposed awareness of how such an
account will unravel might make it feel like the film could just elicit
a numbing indifference, Hope is a moving story of aspiration, delivered
with intelligence." ...Oliver Johnston, The Up Coming
Maria
Sødahl
