Sex

Director: Dag Johan Haugerud

Sex

Norway, 2024, 125‘

Director: Dag Johan Haugerud

Cast: Thorbjørn Harr (CEO), Jan Gunnar Røise (Chimney Sweeper), Siri Forberg (Chimey Sweeper’s Wife), Birgitte Larsen (CEO’s Wife), Theo Dahl (CEO’s son), Nasrin Khusrawi (Singing teacher)

Selected Awards

Berlin – Label Europa Cinemas Award, C.I.C.A.E. Award, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury in Panorama; Amanda Awards, Norway - Best Direction (Dag Johan Haugerud), Best Screenplay (Dag Johan Haugerud), Best Supporting Actor/Actress (Siri Forberg), Best Actor/Actress (Jan Gunnar Røise)

 

 

 

Two chimney sweeps living in monogamous, heterosexual marriages both end up in situations that challenge their views on sexuality and gender roles. One has a sexual encounter with another man, without himself experiencing it either as an expression of homosexual longings or infidelity. The other suddenly experiences nocturnal dreams in which he is seen as a woman. This confuses and disturbs him. He begins to wonder to what extent the gaze of others shapes his personality and whether there are aspects of himself that he has suppressed, thereby limiting himself.

Don’t get too hot and bothered over the title of the new Norwegian film Sex. The act itself is really only just talked about in this intriguing movie mostly dependent on leaning into its main characters’ words and descriptions, not a whole lot of visual information. This is the first of three films — Sex, Dreams, and then Love — featuring the same cast and dealing overall with themes of desire, identity and freedom, not to mention sexuality and the place of gender in our lives and society.