90 Minutes (2012)

Directed by: Eva Sorhaug
Country: Norway

Review: Eva Sorhaug’s second feature film aims to make a psychological study of three men through three different unrelated stories, which ended up in murder. The first story follows a man putting an end to his newspaper subscription and negotiating to get rid of his house. His behavior makes us suspect of financial problems and the sadness in his face is quite evident. The second story is about a disturbed man who doesn’t live with his family anymore, but keeps visiting them often. He has a strange look, and playing with his children seems to leave his ex-wife frightened. The final story depicts a shameful case of domestic violence, starting with a disgusting scene of a tied woman being raped by a man who is addicted to drugs. This is the most violent story, the most painful to watch, and slightly more interesting than the others, since we get to know a little more about the man in question. It’s hard to know what Sorhaug intended to show us with so underdeveloped characters and poor script. Broken homes? Hidden sickness? Evilness? The heavy stuff was so explicit, but the motives or what led to the actions are left aside, since nothing was said or shown about the characters’ past. Despite the vague hints that it might suggest, I got unsatisfied about the lack of depth in the characters' fabrication. The competent direction and convincing performances were the positive aspects of “90 Minutes”, a depressing and feeble analysis of three disturbing minds.