As In Heaven

"Replace the title 'As In Heaven' with 'Du som er i himlen'. Translate the following text into US English: Movies about motherhood abound, be it focusing on the comedy of this relationship between children and mothers ('Bad Moms', 'My Mom is a Character'), others weighing more on the dramatic aspect of the thing ('Tully', 'Mommy', 'Like Our Parents'). 'As In Heaven', shown at the 2021 Toronto Festival, follows the second path -- and with a much darker aspect than all the others mentioned. Here, Danish debut director Tea Lindeburg puts the viewer in the 19th century to get to know the story of a girl trying to break free from the shackles of society. She wants to go to school, challenge the notion of housewife and other such things. However, her mother is pregnant. When she starts giving birth, in this Danish village in the middle of nowhere, things get out of control. The delivery is complicated. And this well-played young woman by Flora Ofelia Hofmann Lindahl sees her dreams collapse. If the mother dies, who will take care of the siblings? It is a delicate drama, with moments worthy of the aesthetics of horror films like 'The Witch', taking us to a reality that, although from 1800, can be found in homes around the world in the 21st century."