UNRULY
DENMARK
Director: Malou Reymann
Cast: Emilie Kroyer Koppel, Jessica Dinnage, Lene Maria Christensen, Anders Heinrichsen, Danica Curcic
Genre: Drama, Woman’s rights
135 minutes: Danish with English subtitles – 2023
Rating: 16 D L N S V
The year is 1933, and society has very specific expectations of how young women should behave. Seventeen-year-old Maren is perceived by the authorities as wild, unruly and promiscuous, so she is sent to the women’s institution on the small island of Sprogø to conform. The stay has the opposite effect and Maren’s refusal to comply with the system has dramatic consequences.
Inspired by actual events at the women’s institution of Sprogø in the 1930’s, director Malou Reyman’s unflinching and empathetic depiction of women battling patriarchy and eugenics is a reminder that women’s voices cannot be silenced. Unruly won the Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film at Göteborg Film Festival 2023, was winner of the Fritz Gerlich Preis at Filmfest München 2023, and took Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress prizes at both the annual Danish Robert Film Awards and the Danish Film Critics BODIL Awards in 2024.
An essential part of the conversation about the lack of power women have over their own bodies.
Ross Bonaime, Collider
At times devastating but also joyous – female strength cannot be suppressed!
Sara Clements, Pay or Wait
“Unruly” is a film that meets the moment, unshakeable in its warning that history could repeat itself.
Stephen Saito, Moveable Fest
Unabashedly feminist and eternally relevant.
Nadine Whitney, AWFJ.org
