Aberdeen

Released Aug 17, 2000

1 hr. 53 min.

Comedy

Drama

List

87%

39 Reviews

Tomatometer

79%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Kaisa (Lena Headey) is sent by her mother (Charlotte Rampling) to escort her alcoholic father (Stellan Skarsgard) on a road trip from a Norwegian oil rig to a detox clinic in Aberdeen, Scotland. What she soon discovers, however, is that her mother's plans for her father are not what she thought...

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Critics Consensus

Though the characters are difficult to watch at times, Aberdeen burns with ferocious honesty and strong performances.

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Audience Member

Before I watched this movie, I had no clue what this movie would be. And now after seeing it I'm simply not a fan. It's a simple movie on paper but with a relationship with the main character from game of thrones and her dad played by Stellan skarsgard. This movie is very high anxiety and uncomfortable at times. It's pretty hard to predict what's going to happen in this movie but for me the pace is a snails pace. That's my big problem. I like the idea of the movie and the actors are fantastic but maybe the editing is the problem or the script writing. But in the end this is also a forgettable movie that I will forget about in a day or two. But at least the poster is iconically cool.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

10/29/21

Full Review

Audience Member

Before I watched this movie, I had no clue what this movie would be. And now after seeing it I'm simply not a fan. It's a simple movie on paper but with a relationship with the main character from game of thrones and her dad played by Stellan skarsgard. This movie is very high anxiety and uncomfortable at times. It's pretty hard to predict what's going to happen in this movie but for me the pace is a snails pace. That's my big problem. I like the idea of the movie and the actors are fantastic but maybe the editing is the problem or the script writing. But in the end this is also a forgettable movie that I will forget about in a day or two.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Lawyer Kaisa Heller (Lena Headey), just promoted, has no apparent emotional attachments, preferring nameless encounters with men. She is surprised to receive a call from Helen (Charlotte Rampling), her dying mother, with a final request to bring Kaisa's estranged father Tomas (Stellan Skarsgård) to see her at the hospital. The film is a bit of a road movie with encounters along the way, some confrontational, such as boozing louts who harass her father or angry stewardesses issuing ultimatums, while some are romantic, such as truck driver Clive (Ian Hart) whom Kaisa attempts to use, but instead finds herself attached to. What started as an unavoidable chore, perhaps the last she will have never been able to dodge, becomes a new starting point in her life... Hans Petter Molands´s family drama moves you in many ways and we get a great cast. A young, lovely and great Lena Headey, the always solid Charlotte Rampling and Stellan Skarsgård plus Ian Hart. I saw "Aberdeen" when it came out, but I can´t remember my opinion back in 2000. But, re-seeing it now was very satisfying. I needed this film right now in my life as I encountered similarities to this story in my own life. And we get a excellent soundtrack from Zbigniew Preisner with great vocals from Stina Nordenstam in the closing song.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

christopher b

Don't let that wacky hat in the poster fool you, this is quite a serious drama with only a slight incline of dark comedy. But it is a film that I couldn't take my eyes away from. I was so struck by the exceptional pacing of the plot, the unflinching story it tells and the brilliantly-matched performances by Lena Headey & Stellan Skarsgard. Both actors do a phenomenal job with the brutally honest material without veering into melodramatics for a bulk of the runtime. The filmmaking is sharp yet never showy in the best possible way while the sublime film editing low-key keeps the road-trip a surprisingly nimble one. Despite the character's eccentric, contrived personalities, it was done in such a heartfelt, entertaining way that was never boring and it ultimately moved me by the film's end. This forgotten indie is well worth a watch and deserves some overdue recognition! - 8/10 (B+)

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

richard i

Appalling student film script, plotting and characterisation that shows that good acting is entirely dependent on good writing and direction, absent from this film. Random nudity, absurd storyline jumps and non-sequiturs, and inconsistent behaviour from the characters adds up to a boring whole.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Good acting, writing. Pretty depressing. Both are pretty unlikable, but are interesting enough characters to get past it.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

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Hans Petter Moland

Director

Stellan Skarsgård

Tomas

Lena Headey

Kaisa

Ian Hart

Clive

Charlotte Rampling

Helen

Jason Hetherington

Perkins

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29%

53%

Twice Upon a Yesterday

90%

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Together

31%

34%

Home Fries

38%

33%

Beautiful Creatures

35%

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Where the Heart Is

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Lisa Alspector

Chicago Reader

Its plot contrivances beautifully justified by its minimalism.

Feb 13, 2020

Full Review

Ed Gonzalez

Slant Magazine

A strangely lyrical tale of addiction and family distance.

Rated: 3/4

Apr 30, 2002

Full Review

Michael Wilmington

Chicago Tribune

Grips us precisely because its actors are so utterly absorbed in their roles, so unfettered and nakedly expressive.

Rated: 3/4

Feb 14, 2002

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 3/5

Sep 1, 2005

Full Review

F.X. Feeney

L.A. Weekly

Moland ... has a fine eye for landscapes, but an even surer touch with actors.

Oct 1, 2002

Full Review

Eric D. Snider

EricDSnider.com

The movie is to be admired for refusing to romanticize alcoholism and for finding, in its bleak story, much humor and emotion.

Rated: B+

Sep 18, 2002

Full Review

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Synopsis

Kaisa (Lena Headey) is sent by her mother (Charlotte Rampling) to escort her alcoholic father (Stellan Skarsgard) on a road trip from a Norwegian oil rig to a detox clinic in Aberdeen, Scotland. What she soon discovers, however, is that her mother's plans for her father are not what she thought...

Director: Hans Petter Moland
Executive Producer: Tom Remlov
Screenwriter: Kristin Amundsen, Lars Bill Lundholm, Hans Petter Moland
Distributor: First Run
Production Co: Filmfabriken Baltic Sea AB, Freeway Films
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 17, 2000, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 8, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $64.1K
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Surround, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)