In several unrelated stories, the consequences of putting one's foot down - or failing to do so - are explored. A humourous look at lessons to learn, lectures to give and lines not to cross.
It’s almost summer in Sweden and minor indiscretions and misbehaviour abound. Leffe likes to show off for his friends and play salacious pranks, especially when he’s drinking. Meanwhile, a righteous grade-school teacher doesn’t know where to draw the line: she insists her fellow educators need a bit of instruction. Then there are two young teenage girls who like to pose for sexy photos and to party, but one night in a park, a complete stranger finds one of the girls passed out drunk. A humorous look at lessons to learn, lectures to give and lines not to cross. Ruben Östlund explores uneasy social dynamics through five darkly humorous, profoundly unsettlingly vignettes in his multichapter sophomore feature, which he has called “a tragic comedy or a comic tragedy.” From a party host too proud to treat a nasty fireworks injury to a teacher placed in the middle of an uncomfortable situation when she observes a colleague mistreating a student, INVOLUNTARY is a fearless expression of Östlund’s recurring interest in issues of public morality, codes of masculinity, and the tension between the individual and the group.