Film Movement presents Monster Thursday, a film directed by Arild Ostin Ommundsen and written by Gro Elin Hjelle and Arild Ostin Ommundsen. It stars Vegar Hoel as Even, Silje Salomonsen as Karen, Christian Skolmen as Tord, Andreas Cappelen as Beckstrom, Kim Bodnia as Skip, Iben Hjejle as Sara, and Lasse August Dørum Backer as Karen’s child, Even. Filmed in Stavanger, Norway, it is in Norwegian and Danish with English subtitles. Monster Thursday runs 103 minutes and is Not Rated by the MPAA.
Karen and her son, Even, open the film with him wanting to surf and waiting for his father, Tord. He’s told that the day - his birthday - is a special day and that he might not be able to surf. Karen thinks back to when she married Tord. Tord, it seems, had stolen his best friend’s girl. His best friend – the best man at his wedding, is Even who remains madly in love with Karen. The film recounts the relationship between Even and Karen after the wedding when business takes Tord away from home. While Karen is pregnant, Even still tries to win her back and while he has no talent for it, he decides to learn to surf as a way to impress Karen.
Monster Thursday has a reasonable story line and leaves some things vague and open to interpretation. Much of the film is dark and overcast – a cold and wet environment. It is well filmed with only a few notable editing goofs. At one point the strap holding Karen’s pregnant belly in place is visible.
I liked this film mostly because of the vagueness of the plot at critical points leaving one to wonder who is really the father of little Even and who was it that Karen truly loved.
Pregnant when married, Karen is pretty immature during that time of her life and seems to be looking more for stability than true love. Beckstrom, Even’s ever-present friend is sort of a Barney character from The Simpsons – a beer or some other alcohol is always present, ready to be served to Even. Skip is the local surfing legend who agrees to teach Even to surf. Sara helps everyone predict where there will be good waves and develops a relationship with Skip as she works on a weather research project. These characters all work to weave a story of love, comic situations, and life in general in this cold, waterfront community. In the end, Monster Thursday is a comic tragedy that left me quite satisfied.