An oddball modern gothic, Border is dark and deeply unsettling, an allegorical Nordic noir as customs officer Tina (an extraordinary Eva Melander – Inland, Flocken) is confronted with home truths beyond the realms of her comprehension.
With an innate ability to ‘smell’ human emotions – particularly guilt and fear – Tina is admired at work. But when Vore (Eero Milonoff – Games People Play, Ganes), a mysterious male traveller whose odour confounds her, passes through customs, disturbing insights about who she is and what she wants follow.
Merging Scandanavian folklore with contemporary social issues, assured writer/director Ali Abbasi (Shelly, Holy Spider) creates a haunting yet macabre tale, an everyday yet thought-provoking domestic drama of ‘the other’. A riveting and unexpected psycho-sexual drama like no other.
Nominated for best make up and hairstyling Oscar in 2019.
Rating: 80%
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