In a Better World is a gripping story of two families united through tragedy and misfortunes. Christian, the main character, is a young boy who is dealing with the loss of his mother and his distant father. While Christian deal with his mother's death, he and his father, Claus, move to a new town and Christian is enrolled in a new school. At the new school, Christian becomes friends with Elias, a young boy who is bullied at school and does not make friends easily. These two boys struggle through their trials together and learn about revenge, betrayal, forgiveness, trust and friendships. Christian is the only person who will defend Elias when he is bullied by other kids at school. Christian's first act of defense is to threaten and beat up the boy who bullies Elias. Christian gets himself into trouble with this and from here his troubles spiral out of control because of his desire to get revenge on those who have done something wrong.
Along with his problems at school, Elias also has problems to deal with at home. His parents are in the midst of a divorce and his father is rarely around as he travels to Africa frequently to serve as a doctor. Because of this, Elias seems lost and alone before he becomes friends with Christian.
There are many prevalent themes throughout the film that are very relatable to most viewers. Many complex relationships are portrayed throughout the film and serve to add depth and meaning to the story. The relationship between Anton and Marianne, Elias' parents, is very strained and effects Elias and the way he acts in school. Elias and his father have a stereotypical father-son relationship, except that Elias' father travels a lot and is not always around. This puts a lot of stress on Elias and he does not always have someone to talk to about his problems. When Elias and his father are shown talking via skype, it is clear that Elias just wants someone to talk to, but his father is too distant and almost seems to not care about his son's troubles while he is away. The relationship between Christian and his father is also strained. Christian and his father do not communicate with each other and this causes them to not get along. Claus puts a lot of pressure on Christian to be good, but Christian does not agree with the way his father thinks and acts how he wants regardless of his father. The relationship between Elias and Christian is the most prevalent relationship seen in the film. Their relationship is built on kindness towards each other, but as the film goes on, their friendship becomes strained when they have different views on how to deal with situations. In the beginning, they are able to find common ground and bond over the fact that their parents are not together, although for different reasons. In the end, Christian and Elias' relationship works because they both want the same thing, they both want to fit in and be important to someone.
One of the biggest themes in the film is revenge and violence. It seems as though everyone in the film wants to get revenge on someone somehow. Christian and Elias want revenge on the boy who bullied Elias, they also want revenge on a man that hit Elias' father. Marianne wants some sort of revenge for the way that she was treated by Anton. The young boys see revenge as a way to solve problems, however, their parents do their best to teach the boys that revenge will not solve any problems. We also see the residents of the camp in Africa where Anton works wanting to get revenge. They end up acting violently, similar to the way that Christian and Elias acted when they wanted revenge against the bully in school. Through this film, we are able to see bullying from the perspective of a young school boy and from the perspective of adults. We see that this cruelness exists in childhood and sometimes continues into adulthood. Bullying also occurs across cultures as we see when Anton is working in Africa. We are able to see this story from the point of view of a child and of an adult which adds to the complexity of the emotions shown throughout the film.
I found it difficult to relate to the characters and sympathize with them as I have never gone through any trials similar to these. I could not image ever acting like Christian and Elias or thinking of ways similar to theirs to get revenge. The boys come up with very extreme ideas to get revenge. I was taught at a young age that getting revenge rarely solves anything and I found myself feeling frustrated with the young boys for acting the way they did.
I enjoyed the acting in the film. I felt pulled into the story by the emotions shown by each character and the way that the characters dealt with their emotions. Through these different emotions, the film was able to deepen and move forward. I was especially impressed by Trine Dyrholm's acting. After seeing her in other movies, I am impressed by the different characters that she is able to portray. None of the characters seemed at all the same and she brought a different element to each of the characters I have seen her act as.
Over all, I found the film to be very dramatic and emotional. I would not watch this film again because I did not enjoy the drama and I thought that the way the boys dealt with their emotions was far beyond what any actual 10 year old would do. Throughout the film, I questioned the actions of the characters and I thought there were some aspects that were unrealistic.
Along with his problems at school, Elias also has problems to deal with at home. His parents are in the midst of a divorce and his father is rarely around as he travels to Africa frequently to serve as a doctor. Because of this, Elias seems lost and alone before he becomes friends with Christian.
There are many prevalent themes throughout the film that are very relatable to most viewers. Many complex relationships are portrayed throughout the film and serve to add depth and meaning to the story. The relationship between Anton and Marianne, Elias' parents, is very strained and effects Elias and the way he acts in school. Elias and his father have a stereotypical father-son relationship, except that Elias' father travels a lot and is not always around. This puts a lot of stress on Elias and he does not always have someone to talk to about his problems. When Elias and his father are shown talking via skype, it is clear that Elias just wants someone to talk to, but his father is too distant and almost seems to not care about his son's troubles while he is away. The relationship between Christian and his father is also strained. Christian and his father do not communicate with each other and this causes them to not get along. Claus puts a lot of pressure on Christian to be good, but Christian does not agree with the way his father thinks and acts how he wants regardless of his father. The relationship between Elias and Christian is the most prevalent relationship seen in the film. Their relationship is built on kindness towards each other, but as the film goes on, their friendship becomes strained when they have different views on how to deal with situations. In the beginning, they are able to find common ground and bond over the fact that their parents are not together, although for different reasons. In the end, Christian and Elias' relationship works because they both want the same thing, they both want to fit in and be important to someone.
One of the biggest themes in the film is revenge and violence. It seems as though everyone in the film wants to get revenge on someone somehow. Christian and Elias want revenge on the boy who bullied Elias, they also want revenge on a man that hit Elias' father. Marianne wants some sort of revenge for the way that she was treated by Anton. The young boys see revenge as a way to solve problems, however, their parents do their best to teach the boys that revenge will not solve any problems. We also see the residents of the camp in Africa where Anton works wanting to get revenge. They end up acting violently, similar to the way that Christian and Elias acted when they wanted revenge against the bully in school. Through this film, we are able to see bullying from the perspective of a young school boy and from the perspective of adults. We see that this cruelness exists in childhood and sometimes continues into adulthood. Bullying also occurs across cultures as we see when Anton is working in Africa. We are able to see this story from the point of view of a child and of an adult which adds to the complexity of the emotions shown throughout the film.
I found it difficult to relate to the characters and sympathize with them as I have never gone through any trials similar to these. I could not image ever acting like Christian and Elias or thinking of ways similar to theirs to get revenge. The boys come up with very extreme ideas to get revenge. I was taught at a young age that getting revenge rarely solves anything and I found myself feeling frustrated with the young boys for acting the way they did.
I enjoyed the acting in the film. I felt pulled into the story by the emotions shown by each character and the way that the characters dealt with their emotions. Through these different emotions, the film was able to deepen and move forward. I was especially impressed by Trine Dyrholm's acting. After seeing her in other movies, I am impressed by the different characters that she is able to portray. None of the characters seemed at all the same and she brought a different element to each of the characters I have seen her act as.
Over all, I found the film to be very dramatic and emotional. I would not watch this film again because I did not enjoy the drama and I thought that the way the boys dealt with their emotions was far beyond what any actual 10 year old would do. Throughout the film, I questioned the actions of the characters and I thought there were some aspects that were unrealistic.