Babycall

An SF Norge (in Norwegian)/NFP (in Germany) discharge of a 4 1/2 Fiksjon, The planet pandora Film, BOB Film Sweden production. (Worldwide sales: the Match Factory, Perfume.) Created by Turid Oversveen. Executive producers, Marius Holst, Karin Julsrud, Hakon Overas, Friend Sletaune. Co-producers, Karl Baumgartner, Anna Croneman. Directed, compiled by Friend Sletaune.With: Noomi Rapace, Kristoffer Joner, Vetle Qvenild Werring, Stig Amdam, Maria Bock, Torkil Johannes Hoeg Swensen. (Norwegian dialogue)Friend Sletaune's photos are stylish and creepy, but "Babycall" needs additional time in script kindergarten. A tense tale of the paranoid lady eager to keep her kid from her violent ex-husband, the helmer's 4th feature sometimes feels as though a mix between "The Sixth Sense" and "Shutter Island," but too frequently utilizes a increased atmosphere of dread to spackle over holes that widen substantially upon considering the overstretched premise. Brisk sales (18 worldwide marketplaces and counting) will cheer mental-thriller fans, further attracted by star Noomi Rapace (the "Millennium" trilogy), who nabbed Rome's actress prize. A clearly put up-out Anna (Rapace) and her 8-year-old boy Anders (Vetle Qvenild Werring) get to a barren new apartment, wishing their whereabouts will stay unknown to Anna's ex, who attempted to drown the boy. Anna does not wish to let Anders from her sight as it were, insisting he sleep in her own mattress and just permitting him to visit school because social services will not allow her to train him in your own home. She buys an infant monitor (also called a babycall) from shy but solicitous salesperson Helge (Kristoffer Joner, star of Sletaune's "NearbyInch), making Anders happy since he is able to now sleep in the own room while remaining within earshot. But all of a sudden one evening, Anna is startled with a violent screaming match from the monitor she inspections on Anders, who's fast asleep. The following day at the shop, Helge reassures her the babycall should have acquired another person's monitor. It is a great premise: What parent would not be freaked out? Sletaune develops the environment of mystery, forcing auds to question the character of Helge's motives, the role of Anders' malevolent, inexplicable schoolfriend (Torkil Johannes Hoeg Swensen), and Anna's general frame of mind, even if she confesses to seeing things. All of this creates a superficial level, yet audiences inclined to consider when they watch will not have the ability to shake a nagging suspicion that they are being hoodwinked, notwithstanding the helmer's goal of conflating the actual and also the imaginary. Indeed, the copout resolution is not likely to fulfill anybody, along with a considered reflection around the various elements discloses a number of inexplicable MacGuffins more prone to induce exasperation than chills. Sletaune is skilled at conjuring taut situations having a balance of cold pictures and tight editing, but such motion picture products aren't enough to convince once the plot feels as though a cheat. Rapace keeps the edgy mood choosing her stressed-out perf, climax her moments of quiet vulnerability as opposed to the one-note tension that provide the role some depth. On top of that is Joner's calm playing, which defies tries to place Helge within the good or evil column before the very finish. Pictures feature diffused colors that tend toward frigid blues and grays, Scandinavian cinema's current default mode.Camera (color, widescreen), John Andreas Andersen editor, Jon Endre Mork music, Fernando Velazquez production designer, Roger Rosenberg costume designer, Ellen Ystehede seem (Dolby SRD), Tormod Ringnes, Christian Schaanning connect producers, Guttorm Petterson, Christoph Ott, Michael Weber line producer, Bent Rognlien casting, Celine Engebrigtsen. Examined at Rome Film Festival (competing), November. 1, 2011. (Also in Thessaloniki Film Festival -- Open Horizons.) Running time: 96 MIN. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com