King of Devil’s Island

Wednesday, June 22 - Thursday, June 23, 2016

35mm print!

“Though set in another time and place, there’s a haunting note of topicality to Marius Holst’s based-in-truth drama. Stellan Skarsgård (“Good Will Hunting”) plays Bestyreren, the governor at a secluded boy’s reformatory home in 1915 Norway. Erling (Benjamin Helstad) arrives to find he’d be better off in jail: The students are given numbers rather than names, pushed into backbreaking labor and beaten for small infractions. The school’s skeletons finally threaten to spill out when one child kills himself after being subjected to sexual abuse by a dorm master. Erling is bound to expose this awful secret, but the adults around him are determined to cover it up, whatever the cost.

Moody atmospherics enhance the conventional structure, and Holst’s solid storytelling balances the heavy-handed symbolism. Skarsgård is excellent as always, but it’s really Helstad who grounds this unsettling tale, which recently won Norway’s Best Picture award.” –New York Daily News

Part of the series Cold Cases: The Department Q Trilogy & the New Nordic Noir

• Country Norway
• Language Norwegian with English subtitles
• Year 2010
• Running Time 115 minutes
• Director Marius Holst

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.