Mads Mikkelsen Gives Performance Of A Lifetime In Award-Winning Emotional Film, Stream Right Now
Mads Mikkelsen is a go-to bad guy for Hollywood after such powerful deliveries as Le Chiffre in Casino Royale and the infamous Dr. Hannibal Lecter in the TV series Hannibal. Still, there is something inexplicable and deeply emotional in his portrayal of Martin in the international drama effort and Oscar-winning Another Round, available now on multiple streaming services.
Another Round
The film was directed by Thomas Vinterberg, who co-wrote the script with Tobias Lindholm. It tells the story of four middle-aged teachers in Copenhagen: Martin (Mads Mikkelsen), Tommy (Thomas Bo Larsen), Nikolaj (Magnus Millang), and Peter (Lars Ranthe). Uninspired by their boring careers, they find an interesting theory set by a psychiatrist who thought that a constant low blood alcohol level (BAC) could increase creativity and lust for life, as Iggy Popp would say.
Based on the study, friends launched a social experiment by starting day drinking and maintaining a BAC of 0.05 percent. Martin, a desperate history teacher who has been in a rut for a very long time, personally and professionally, embraces the experiment with the most excitement.
The Perils Of Day Drinking
However, what can be thought of as a cliche story, Mads Mikkelsen brings it up a notch in Another Round. Thanks to his newfound buzz on life, joy seeps back into his teaching, and he reconnects with his family. He replaces quiet despair with vivid conversations with his students a la Dead Poets Society, turning Mads Mikkelsen into an unlikely hero of Another Round.
Yet, with great power comes great responsibility. The group succumbed to the positive results they were experiencing and decided to take things up a notch. Unfortunately, this only led them into a downward spiral that exposed the experiment’s dark side, turning their dream into a nightmare.
Mads Mikkelsen’s brilliant acting is seen in Martin’s vulnerability throughout Another Round. He yearns for a spark and doesn’t stop when it leads to devastating consequences, which makes us feel every beat of Martin’s rollercoaster journey.
A Tribute To The Director’s Daughter
Vinterberg initially wrote this drama as a play but turned it into a film. His daughter, Ida, also had a part in the film as Martin’s daughter, but she was killed in a car accident just days into the filming. After the unfortunate event, the script was rewritten and made more serious than previously imagined as a celebration of alcohol. The entire film is an homage to Ida, and some scenes of the film were done in the classroom she attended, where her classmates were extras.
Mads Mikkelsen Dances
Another Round was set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions, the premiere was moved to the Toronto International Film Festival. The film holds a strong 92 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising Mads Mikkelsen’s performance.
Streaming On Multiple Platforms
Mads Mikkelsen and Another Round received numerous prestigious awards. The film won the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film for Denmark, while Mikkelsen earned a Best Actor nomination. Mikkelsen also won Best Leading Actor at BAFTA and the European Film Awards, among numerous other accolades.
Critically acclaimed, Another Round is not a typical middle-aged crisis story drama. With Mads Mikkelsen in the lead roles, it deserves all the love it can get and it is available to stream on Amazon Prime, Roku, and Tubi.
