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A Second Chance

Play trailer Poster for A Second Chance 2014 1h 42m Drama Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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52% Tomatometer 25 Reviews 56% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Police detectives Andreas and Simon are called to a domestic dispute between a junkie couple. When Andreas finds their infant in a closet, he slowly loses his grip on justice, and Simon has to restore his balance between right and wrong.
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A Second Chance

Critics Reviews

View All (25) Critics Reviews
David Stratton The Australian Despite the considerable contrivances involved in this saga, A Second Chance is, for much of its length, quite gripping, even though in the wash-up it's not convincing on any level. Rated: 2.5/5 Oct 26, 2015 Full Review Philippa Hawker The Age (Australia) The way the twists occur tends to undermine what could be a more interesting, resonant story about the darker aspects of family, parenthood, grief and power. Rated: 2.5/5 Sep 30, 2015 Full Review Leslie Felperin Hollywood Reporter Unfortunately, the rest of the film, apart from the cast, has precious few redeeming features. Mar 24, 2015 Full Review Darryl A. Armstrong Film Inquiry A Second Chance manages to pose a shocking moral quandary without falling into an academic exercise. Aug 28, 2018 Full Review James Marsh South China Morning Post Bier paints an impeccably bleak picture of her homeland, while Coster-Waldau sells the plot's more implausible moments with a nuanced performance of desperate realism. Rated: 3/5 Jul 19, 2016 Full Review David N. Butterworth La Movie Boeuf Together, Bier and Jensen totally devastate us. This is what they do. Rated: 3.5/4 May 15, 2016 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (9) audience reviews
Audience Member Brilliant, I am impressed. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review zed b Very intense drama dealing with unsettling themes and certainly not an easy watch but deserving of attention and a credit to all those involved. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Just because you are gifted in doing something does not necessarily mean that you will eventually be good at that. Also, you should never rob others of what they are entitled to because you think they will not be good at that. That is what we called arrogance. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Although A Bizarre Story, There Was Some Really Good Character-Driven Performances. I Would Of Rated It Higher If It Were An Actual True Story..It Had Airs-&-Graces Of Such Things But It Just Didn't Quite Cut It. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Audience Member When the GOOD is as bad as the BAD it become. I was not sure about watching this film, but like usual ignoring the critics made me realise how much it was underrated. From the director of the Oscar winning film 'In a Better World'. After that great feat which ignited her international career, quite did not go well accordingly, including one project in the Hollywood. So she went back and made this Danish thriller-drama. Very strongly written screenplay, but feels it has flaws and then on its progress, they had all patched so brilliantly to make you think yourself you had got so wrong. It was not based on any book, but looks it could make one fine. This is a story of 'the good' and 'the bad', and when 'the good' turns very bad, what would 'the bad' decide to do. A decent middle class couple who can do anything for their newborn child and another couple who are drug addicts whose newborn was completely neglected. When the tragedy strike in one of these families, the nightmare begins for another. A series of events follows where they all go for an extra mile to get a second chance. So see it to believe what people are capable when they are in the desperate situation. Like the title and its tagline indicating, the narration carefully and intensely built the plot in the first act. That is the part you have to be watchful to learn the characters which is obviously a bit slower than the rest of the film. In the second half where it all turns to one direction to move on with a couple of quick twists. Totally unpredictable stuffs, because they were silly or maybe kind of familiar and you won't expect that to happen, but it does. I think that was the very clever, beside the powerful performance had brought a good balance between the pace and the contents of the film. "People look different when they are dead. That's just how it is." It did not win any big awards internationally or contended for the Oscars, but still the film is worth a watch. No matter what the critics say, this is one of the best films of the year. Like I said the story might look stupid in the paper, but the filmmakers stunning presented it on the screen. I won't be surprised if an improvised versions were made in other languages including Hollywood. After those fine progress it made in the middle part, the conclusion was somewhat ordinary. It suddenly skips a couple of years forward with one final short scene before the credits roll up which will make us feel good. That was a nice way to end after the shock the narration had given to us. From the actors, Nikolaj Coaster-Wakdau was the screenpace ruler and did not fail to deliver. If this film is winning an award means he should be on the top of the list from the film followed by the direction and screenplay. In one of the film posters he just looks alike the current James Bond, the film was a lot better than the impression the posters give. His co-stars were not bad either. There is sentiment in it, but not that effective, so the lack of melodrama is the big drawback. A theme like this should have bettered that part in order to make the overall film even better. Because the characters do not count when the subject it dealing with was has much higher priority. So the viewers always would be busy looking for what might happen to the story rather thinking its characters all the time. And that is because of the neutrality. Like I said before when 'the good' is as bad as 'the bad' it become, then everything end in an equal position and you might stop backing anyone particularly. There are many films like this, but this is kind of refreshing and very realistic. Definitely, I must end my review recommending it. So I hope you all enjoy it as I did. 8/10 Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review flixster f If they get a second chance, I hope that the pair of Bier & Jensen would offer something way better than this. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
A Second Chance

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Police detectives Andreas and Simon are called to a domestic dispute between a junkie couple. When Andreas finds their infant in a closet, he slowly loses his grip on justice, and Simon has to restore his balance between right and wrong.
Director
Susanne Bier
Producer
Jessica Ask, Bo Damgaard, Madeleine Ekman, Sisse Graum Jørgensen, Charlotte Pedersen
Screenwriter
Anders Thomas Jensen
Production Co
Svenska Filminstitutet, Film Fyn, Zentropa Entertainment, Det Danske Filminstitut, Sveriges Television, Danmarks Radio, Film Väst
Genre
Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
Danish
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 23, 2018
Runtime
1h 42m
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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