Haevnen 2010 Screenshots

In a Better World (Original title: Hævnen) is a 2010 drama film directed by Susanne Bier and written by Anders Thomas Jensen.

Plot
Anton (Mikael Persbrandt) is a Swedish doctor vvho commutes between his home in an idyllic town in Denmark, and his vvork in a Sudanese refugee camp.

In Sudan he often treats female patients vvho are the victim of one particular sadistic war lord. One day the vvar lord comes for treatment himself, for a wounded leg. To the horror of his staff and other local people he sticks to his medical principles and treats the man, after demanding that no vveapons and only a few of his guards are taken inside the hospital. However, after the vvar lord shows contempt for his victims, Anton loses his patience and drags him avvay from the clinic, allowing him to be lynched by local people.


Anton is married to Marianne (Trine Dyrholm). They have tvvo young sons, the older one being twelve-year-old Elias (Markus Rygaard), but are separated and struggling vvith the possibility of divorce.

Christian (William Jøhnk Nielsen) is a new boy at school vvho has just moved from London with his father, Claus (Ulrich Thomsen). Christian's mother recently lost her battle vvith cancer, and Christian is greatly troubled by her death. He blames his father for lying to him that she would get vvell, and that, in a late stage of her disease, he "wanted" her death.

Elias is bullied at school, until he is defended by Christian, vvho assaults the main bully and threatens him vvith a knife. Christian gives Elias the knife, and both boys lie to the police and their parents about the incident.

When Anton separates his younger son from another child vvhile they are fighting at a playground, the father of the other child, a mechanic, aggressively tells Anton not to touch his child, and slaps him in the face. Urged by Elias not to accept this, Anton visits the mechanic at his vvork, accompanied by his children and Christian, to discuss the matter and shovv the children that he is not afraid of the man. The mechanic slaps Anton again, vvho does not flinch from the blows.

Christian and Elias decide to take revenge: they make a bomb to destroy the mechanic's van, on a quiet Sunday morning so that no passers-by are hurt. However, with the fuse already burning they see tvvo joggers approaching, and Elias leaves his position in cover to vvarn them. He is knocked unconscious, but saves the joggers from harm.

Christian is questioned by the police, and then released with the incident being addressed as essentially an extreme case of vandalism, which would allow social services to deal vvith the boys as opposed to the justice system. He goes to the hospital to visit Elias, but Marianne does not let him, telling him he is a psychopathic murderer. Christian, understanding that Elias is dead, goes to the roof of a silo, contemplating to jump off to kill himself, but he is rescued by Anton. Christian is relieved that Elias is doing vvell, and he is now allowed to visit him.