In a Better World
In a Better World (Danish: Hævnen, "Revenge") is a 2010 Danish drama film directed by Susanne Bier and written by Anders Thomas Jensen, about a doctor who commutes between a Danish provincial town and an African refugee camp while his son forms a dangerous friendship with a grieving new boy at school1. It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film in 20112.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | Hævnen ("Revenge")1 |
| Director and writer | Susanne Bier; screenplay by Anders Thomas Jensen1 |
| Premiere | 26 August 2010 in Denmark3 |
| Lead cast | Mikael Persbrandt (Anton), Trine Dyrholm (Marianne), Ulrich Thomsen (Claus), Markus Rygaard (Elias), William Jøhnk Nielsen (Christian)1 |
| Major awards | Academy Award and Golden Globe, Best Foreign Language Film, 20112 |
| Danish admissions | About 412,400 by 15 December 20103 |
| Critical scores | Metascore 65 from 29 reviews; Rotten Tomatoes 77%4 • 5 |
Spoilers
Story and themes
The film alternates between two settings. Anton (Mikael Persbrandt) is a doctor who works at a refugee camp in an unnamed African country and returns at intervals to his home in a small Danish town, where his marriage to Marianne (Trine Dyrholm) is breaking down and their ten-year-old son Elias (Markus Rygaard) is bullied at school1. Elias is defended by Christian (William Jøhnk Nielsen), a new boy who has moved from London with his father Claus (Ulrich Thomsen) after his mother's death from cancer1.
The boys' bond turns into an alliance with dangerous consequences when Christian involves Elias in an act of revenge against a local mechanic who has struck Anton, building a pipe bomb from instructions found on the Internet1 • 10. In the camp, Anton faces his own moral test when the nurses and local staff refuse to treat a brutal warlord whose life he had once saved10.
The central question is whether violence can ever answer violence, or whether forgiveness offers another response; the Danish title names revenge directly, while the English title points toward the alternative11. In a Sundance Institute interview, Bier described the film as a contemporary allegory about cycles of aggression and revenge, and said her characters face conflicts for which there is no right answer but real consequences: "The furthest I can go is to ask the questions"12. In her director's statement she wrote that the film asks whether "our own 'advanced' culture is the model for a better world, or whether the same disarray found in lawlessness is lurking beneath the surface of our civilization"1.
Production
Bier returned to Denmark for the project after directing the American drama Things We Lost in the Fire (2007); Hævnen was her first Danish film since After the Wedding (2006)6. The film was produced by Sisse Graum Jørgensen for Zentropa Entertainments on a budget just under $5.9 million (€4 million), in co-production with Swedish partners and with support from the Danish Film Institute, the Nordic Film & TV Fond, and the MEDIA program of the European Union7 • 8.
Sony Pictures Classics acquired all North American rights in May 2010, by which point the film had been sold to more than 30 countries8. Morten Søborg was the cinematographer and Johan Söderqvist composed the score9.
Reception and awards
The film premiered in Denmark on 26 August 2010 and drew about 412,400 Danish cinema admissions by mid-December of that year3. It was nominated for a Golden Globe in December 2010, which Danish press read as a sign of Oscar prospects, and went on to win the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film on 16 January 2011 and the Academy Award in the same category at the 83rd ceremony on 27 February 201113 • 2. Bier also won the Best Director Award at the European Film Awards 201114, and Trine Dyrholm won the Bodil Award for Best Actress2.
Danish industry recognition was more divided. Although the film was Oscar-nominated, it was not among the five nominees for Best Danish Film at the 2011 Robert Awards, a result the Zentropa producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen called "a ridiculous system"15.
Critical response was generally favorable but not uniform. The film scored 65 on Metacritic from 29 reviews and 77% on Rotten Tomatoes4 • 5. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times praised its comparison of the moral worlds of children and adults4, while A.O. Scott of The New York Times found the film "a little too easy" and accused it of cheap manipulation4. Writing in Dissent, Leonard Quart criticized the African scenes as an exotic prop for the theme and the ending as a neat, fantasy resolution16.
References
- In a Better World press kit, Sony Pictures Classics
- In a Better World (2010) – Awards, IMDb
- Hævnen, danskfilmogtv.dk
- In a Better World Reviews, Metacritic
- In a Better World, Rotten Tomatoes
- Store bifald til Biers Hævnen, Filmmagasinet Ekko
- Susanne Bier returns to Denmark to make The Revenge, Screen Daily
- Sony Pictures Classics acquires In a Better World, press release
- In A Better World, Kulturportal
- In a Better World film review, Spirituality & Practice
- «In a Better World» (2011): The Ethics of a Doctor Facing Violence, Journal of Medicine and Movies
- Q&A: Susanne Bier on In a Better World, Sundance Institute
- Hævnen nomineret til Golden Globe, Filmmagasinet Ekko
- FILM #Special Issue / EU2012, Danish Film Institute
- Robert ignorerer Biers Oscar-film, Filmmagasinet Ekko
- In a Better World and the Lessons of Hollywood, Dissent Magazine
Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2010 to 2014 › Psychological and social drama films
Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026
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