Mikael is a respected judge. Beyond that, he is an incommunicative and authoritative father who lives in a large apartment with his invalid dad, his second wife, and his two boys. Mikael receives the news of his first wife’s death with chilling indifference. But he does not feel so calm about the arrival of Tilda, a daughter from his first marriage, who starts to display an emotional attachment to her slightly younger brother Daniel, whom she’s only recently discovered. To Mikael’s horror, the young man returns her feelings. In order to prevent a sibling love affair, their father resorts to ever more brutal methods. The tragicomic story, in which sombre tones markedly predominate, is a narratively concise psychodrama investigating Judge Mikael’s reserved northern temperament. He yearns for human understanding and true communication, but hides it all behind a stony face and an obsessive desire to maintain order within his family.
