Although Christian Tafdrup is better known as an actor, fans will remember him for his role in Borgen, he has been making his first steps as a director since the end of the 90s. He managed to cross the Danish borders in 2016 with Parents and make a good place for himself on the international scene. with the box office hit A Terrible Woman in 2017.
Now, he has received the definitive applause from critics with Skeak no Evil, which was screened yesterday at the Sitges Festival in the official competition section. A psychological horror film that starts with an idyllic vacation in Tuscany. A Danish couple and their daughter become friends with a Dutch couple, who have a child of about the same age, although somewhat withdrawn and sparing of words.
Back in Copenhagen, the Danes receive an invitation from the Dutch to spend a weekend at their house in the country. She doesn’t feel like it too much, but her husband insists: the worst that can happen is that we get bored. So they take the car and go to Holland, but when they arrive at their destination they see attitudes in their hosts that are increasingly disturbing. Tafdrup’s message is clear: don’t rely on the kindness of strangers.
Sitges also presented yesterday in the official competition section Enys Men by British director Mark Jenkin, who argues that nature can also have a dark and disturbing side through the story of a scientist, played by Mary Woodvine, who is commissioned to observe for a month a rare species of flowers in Cornwall to see how it evolves. The woman’s days pass without emotions until suddenly the flowers undergo changes and her past begins to haunt her.
