Woman at War
Director: Benedikt Erlingsson
Year Released: 2018
Rating: 2.0
Part-time choir director, part-time domestic terrorist ... sorry, "environmental activist" Halla (Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir) has been taking down power lines with a bow-and-arrow (your move, Merida) but she also wants to adopt a child from Ukraine ... and her being pursued by the Lögregla might prevent her from being a good Móðir (you know, going to prison and all that). The setup is a bit too folksy: big business (specifically Rio Tinto) is 'damaging' Iceland's infrastructure, but it skimps on the details about what is going on (how is no one else complaining that they're losing power?) and the adoption subplot is intended to add a 'human' component to the story, but it's only brought up when it's convenient. Surely, there has to be a better way to protest than knocking down drones (while wearing a Nelson Mandela mask) or covering yourself with a bloody sheep carcass to avoid detection ... right? The ending makes use of Geirharðsdóttir playing both Halla and her twin sister Ása, but good luck finding the 'twist' even semi-plausible.