Ambitious André and Vera are the hottest couple in the start-up scene. The two are heading to the Shake Up presentation series to hunt for investors and talk about the women’s health monitoring app they have developed. Shortly before this, Vera attended a hypnosis session to quit smoking. You see, they both care about what they do – just enough to make the couple’s perfectionism and desire to prove themselves for the next three days into a farce that devolves into a radical worst-case scenario.

This is not a film for those who can’t stand the slightest bit of second-hand embarrassment — a comedy that takes the winding path of satire will cause you to feel uncomfortable, get a dry throat, avert your eyes and burst out to talk to the film’s characters (you will especially want to reach out to Asta Kamma August’s Vera). Swedish director Ernst De Geer’s debut made a brilliant start at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, with the film’s actor Herbert Nordrum (The Worst Person in the World, 2021) winning the award for Best Actor and paving the way for films about Millennial problems receiving cult status in Europe. De Geer got the idea for this frivolously intelligent film after watching a video of a dog under hypnosis — so what if social behaviour labels and unattainable standards are part of this screening? (With this, we invite you to pay attention to the dog in the film.)