After the Wedding

R

2006

1h 55m

Drama

List

87%

103 Reviews

Tomatometer

87%

50,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Jacob Petersen (Mads Mikkelsen) dedicates his life to helping street children in India, and when the orphanage he leads may be closed, he receives an interesting offer. A businessman will give him $4 million -- with conditions. Jacob must return to Denmark and take part in the wedding of the man's daughter; the event is a crucial meeting of past and future, throwing Jacob into the most-intense dilemma of his life.

Read More

Read Less

Prime Video

Rent After the Wedding on Prime Video, or buy it on Prime Video.

Critics Consensus

The cast brings After the Wedding's melodramatic script to life, creating a movie that is emotionally raw and satisfying.

Read Critics Reviews

R 9

I wouldn't quite rate it as highly as some have online, but I do agree that 'After the Wedding' is a great film! It took me a little while to warm to this but eventually I had a positive time watching it, it even manages to pack a more emotional punch towards the end... it genuinely had me feeling sad for the characters. The flick probably overruns slightly as it could've reached the aforementioned conclusion quicker, but that's a very small criticism. Mads Mikkelsen, Sidse Babett Knudsen and Stine Fischer Christensen are big performers throughout, credit to all three of them. Rolf Lassgård is, however, the star of the show in my opinion - a top notch performance, particularly for the crux of the plot. I felt his character's emotion. I did almost agree with many others online by giving it around 9/10, though I settled on 8/10... it's not far off, I admit. Either way, and more pertinently, it's a film that holds quality.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

10/04/23

Full Review

dave s

Jacob (Mads Mikkelsen) manages an orphanage in India. Struggling financially to keep the orphanage open, he returns to his homeland of Denmark to accept a lucrative donation, only to find himself ensnared in past transgressions and forced to reassess his priorities. Susanne Bier's After the Wedding has an intriguing premise that sometimes veers towards lurid melodrama, but wisely never crosses that line. Despite the appealing storyline, the film is hurt by many of Bier's directorial choices. The handheld camera is dizzying at times. There are a ridiculous amount of pointless and distracting extreme close-ups, most of which include eyeballs. Much of the editing, including a bunch of jump cuts, comes across as frantic. After the Wedding is a potentially great film done in by its own stylistic excesses.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Susanne Bier is, as always, the master of moral dilemma.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

Late R

With a great cast, well-written characters, and a number of important messages to impart about what matters in life, ‘After the Wedding' plays with your expectations and delivers a story with meaning. Even if you foresaw the big reveal, the way it's handled means it still hits hard, unafraid to put raw emotions on full display. It is, perhaps, a little more melodramatic than you might expect from something coming out of Scandinavia, but I think Susanne Bier finds the perfect balance in tone and the result is a bittersweet, tragic, and sometimes emotionally powerful affair that leaves its mark.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/03/22

Full Review

Audience Member

A very good original Danish film that should not have been remade with American actors. Watch this one, not the remake!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/11/23

Full Review

imola l

A trademark of danish movies is that the camera is constantly shaking and moving like somebody is recording it with a phone. Ten minutes into the movie and I'm already dizzy. Unfortunately it ruins a good movie. Good luck to you all watching it.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Susanne Bier

Director

Mads Mikkelsen

Jacob

Rolf Lassgård

Jørgen

Sidse Babett Knudsen

Helene

Stine Fischer Christensen

Anna

Christian Tafdrup

Christian

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

78%

86%

In a Better World

93%

90%

Open Hearts

92%

93%

The Hunt

89%

85%

Brothers

70%

89%

Dogville

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Critical Consensus: Here’s To You, "Robinsons"; "Blades" Needs Sharpening; "Lookout" Worth A Look

View more photos

Joumane Chahine

Film Comment Magazine

There's nothing quite as devastating as tragedy treated with sharp and precise Northern European restraint.

Nov 19, 2013

Full Review

Josh Rosenblatt

Austin Chronicle

Bier [is] the latest in a long line of filmmakers who have mastered the art of making movies about people we can all thank God we're not.

Rated: 3.5/5

Jun 2, 2007

Full Review

Roger Moore

Orlando Sentinel

Lovely, dense and surprising.

Rated: 5/5

May 31, 2007

Full Review

Debbie Lynn Elias

Behind The Lens

Reminiscent of Ingmar Bergman with its substantive style, AFTER THE WEDDING provides a focused perspective of life.

Nov 6, 2019

Full Review

Heather Huntington

ReelzChannel.com

As a critic, I don't always have the luxury of choosing everything I see. And a lucky thing, too, because director Susanne Bier's After the Wedding is making a strong argument that my instincts about Danish cinema are wrong wrong wrong.

Rated: 8/10

Aug 21, 2008

Full Review

Jean-François Vandeuren

Panorama

Une oeuvre aussi sincère que les intentions de ses protagonistes qui épate par l'efficacité d'une mise en scènes dont les rouages se veulent entièrement au service du discours

Rated: 7/10

Aug 20, 2008

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

Jacob Petersen (Mads Mikkelsen) dedicates his life to helping street children in India, and when the orphanage he leads may be closed, he receives an interesting offer. A businessman will give him $4 million -- with conditions. Jacob must return to Denmark and take part in the wedding of the man's daughter; the event is a crucial meeting of past and future, throwing Jacob into the most-intense dilemma of his life.

Director: Susanne Bier
Producer: Peter Aalbæk Jensen, Peter Garde
Screenwriter: Anders Thomas Jensen
Production Co: Zentropa Entertainments
Rating: R (Some Language|A Scene of Sexuality)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Danish
Rerelease Date (Theaters): Mar 30, 2007
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 19, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.5M
Runtime: 1h 55m
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD

Most Popular at Home Now