BIRTHDAY GIRL Trailer (2024) Trine Dyrholm, Drama Movie

BIRTHDAY GIRL Trailer (2024) Trine Dyrholm, Drama Movie

BIRTHDAY GIRL Trailer (2024) Trine Dyrholm, Drama Movie
© 2024 - Signature Entertainment
By Jon Donnis
Signature Entertainment is set to deliver an adrenaline-fueled experience with the UK trailer release of the Norwegian revenge thriller "Birthday Girl," hitting digital platforms on June 17.

In this heart-stopping drama, viewers are taken on a rollercoaster of emotions as they witness the lengths a mother will go to for justice. The story centers around 42-year-old Nanna, portrayed by the talented Trine Dyrholm ("Margrete: Queen of the North"), who invites her daughter Cille on a cruise to celebrate her 18th birthday, aiming to mend their relationship post-divorce. However, their dream getaway quickly transforms into a nightmare when Cille is assaulted on their first night at sea. With the assailant set to depart the ship within 48 hours and international waters providing a legal loophole, Nanna must take matters into her own hands to track down the perpetrator.

Image provided by Signature Entertainment

Directed by Michael Noer ("Papillon") and co-written with Jesper Fink ("Before the Frost"), "Birthday Girl" boasts a stellar cast including Flora Ofelia Hofmann Lindahl, Herman Tømmeraas ("Ragnarok"), and Maja Ida Thiele.

This gripping tale of determination and justice will keep audiences on the edge of their seats from start to finish.

"Birthday Girl" arrives on Digital Platforms on June 17, courtesy of Signature Entertainment. Brace yourselves for an intense cinematic experience unlike any other.
Danish star Trine Dyrholm takes on the “bad mom” trope in “Birthday Girl,” which has its world premiere at the Zurich Film Festival, where a girl’s 18th birthday party goes horribly wrong.

Directed by Michael Noer, it sees her character, Nanna, trying to impress estranged daughter (“As in Heaven” breakout Flora Ofelia Hofmann Lindahl) with a cruise to the Caribbean. But when the girl is assaulted, and no one believes her, Nanna needs to step it all the way up.

“Birthday Girl” was produced by Matilda Appelin and Rene Ezra for Nordisk Film Production, with TrustNordisk handling sales.

“I saw her as a mother who wants to be her daughter’s girlfriend. They are on the biggest party boat she could find, because they haven’t seen each other that much and she wants to make up for all that. She is fighting for this closeness and then they share this terrible experience,” says Dyrholm, on her way to Poland to work on Magnus von Horn’s upcoming “The Little Seamstress.”

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As long-haired, long-nailed Nanna starts to investigate, to the horror of the crew and party-loving guests, nobody takes her seriously either.

“I found it very important that she looks like this. We always place people in boxes, but that’s how she expresses herself, with these push-up bras and false eyelashes. It can be a mask, but it can also be freeing. That lady is a survivor,” says Dyrholm.

“Birthday Girl”
Courtesy of Trust Nordisk/Heikki Leis
“On these cruise ships, you can’t get out and there are no rules, because these are international waters. When something like this happens, you are on your own. The scariest thing is when they get an upgrade. They put them in a bigger cabin, hoping everyone will shut up. It’s a good example of how our society treats this topic.”

Still, victims of sexual assaults have been consistently speaking out, no longer interested in silence.

“We are finally talking about it in a real way. You can’t just push it aside. My character also experienced something she couldn’t really talk about when she was younger. Now, she wants to make it right for her daughter, because she wasn’t able to do it for herself,” she adds.

“I think that for Trine, it was interesting to play a part when she doesn’t have to be a saint,” says Noer.

“It was a gift to have these two actresses and let them be experts on what it means to be a woman in certain situations. I don’t know how it feels when men talk about how drunk you were or the length of your skirt. Nobody is going to ask me how drunk I was, unless I am involved in a DUI.”

Making the film made him aware of his own prejudices, he admits.

“Women can be dismissed because of how they look. ‘Put more clothes on, lose some weight.’ We talked a lot about gender, but we also talked about age. There is this idea that if a woman is ‘misbehaving,’ she better be as young and good-looking as Taylor Swift,” he observes.

“In the film, I called this company ‘Coco Cruise,’ after my daughter. I tried to make a movie that she can hopefully watch one day and say: ‘Ok, my dad tried to understand something.’ Maybe it’s because I am a bit of an idiot myself, but I gravitate towards characters who are lost and make mistakes. I myself had misconceptions towards Trine’s character, but she is doing the best she can. Unlike other people on that ship.”

Noer, also behind Rami Malek starrer “Papillon” and drama series “Prisoner,” is no stranger to claustrophobic environments.

“It’s not that I have some kind of a fetish, but I am interested in humans colliding with their surroundings. I like genre movies, I like this ‘ticking clock’ thing. It was interesting to take someone who is a ‘bad mom,’ fighting to be a good mom, and put her under such pressure,” he notes, mentioning a New York Times piece that started it all.

“I come from a documentary background, so almost all my ideas begin with an article. This one compared number of sexual assault cases in Miami hotels and these ships. They are not rare, it’s just rare for them to resurface. There are no real police [on board]. Everyone’s paid by that company,” he says.

“Even in ‘Succession’ there is a whole subplot about lawless cruise ships and yet we don’t do anything about it. The tagline of the movie could be: ‘Why can’t you just leave it on the boat?’ But some things you can’t ‘leave on the boat.’ We need to talk about them.”

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Michael Noer, Trine Dyrholm, Zurich Film Festival
Signature Entertainment has confirmed that revenge thriller ‘Birthday Girl’ will be released on digital platforms from 17th June 2024, and you can watch the trailer for it now.

Starring Trine Dyrholm (‘Margrete: Queen of the North’), Flora Ofelia Hofmann Lindahl, Herman Tømmeraas (‘Ragnarok’) and Maja Ida Thiele, ‘Birthday Girl’ is directed by Michael Noer (‘Papillon’) from a script he co-wrote with Jesper Fink (‘Before the Frost’).

This nail-biting intense drama proves how far a mother will go for justice. 42-year-old Nanna has invited her daughter Cille along on a cruise to celebrate her 18th birthday, with the hope of restoring their relationship after a tiring divorce. But what was meant to be their dream-trip to the Carribean soon turns into a living nightmare, when the daughter is raped on their first night onboard the ship.

However, international waters are outside any police jurisdiction and neither the shipping company nor the crew are interested in ruining the party onboard. Therefore, it is solely up to Nanna to find the perpetrator before he leaves the ship 48 hours later.

Take a look at the key art for ‘Birthday Girl’ below:
TrustNordisk has boarded suspense drama Birthday Girl, directed by Michael Noer and led by Danish star Trine Dyrholm. The company will handle international sales rights on the feature about a mother’s persevering quest for justice.

Noer, who co-wrote Birthday Girl (working title) with Jesper Fin, is known for such films as 2018’s Before The Frost, which won the Tokyo Special Jury Prize, and his 2010 debut feature R, a Dragon Award winner for Best Nordic Film in Goteborg. His English-language debut was with the 2017 remake of the classic adventure epic Papillon starring Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek.

AP
One of Denmark’s best-known and most lauded actresses, Dyrholm won the Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear for Thomas Vinterberg’s 2016 The Commune and boasts such credits as Queen Of Hearts, Love Is All You Need and In A Better World. Recently, she’s been seen in crime series Face To Face (Forhøret) and has wrapped Celyn Jones and Tom Stern’s indie drama The Almond And The Seahorse alongside Rebel Wilson and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

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Birthday Girl is billed is a suspense drama set on a cruise ship bound for the Caribbean where Nanna (Dyrholm) has invited her daughter Cille and her best friend to celebrate Cille’s 18th birthday. The expectations are high, and they have big plans set for the days ahead. But on the first evening, the dream vacation turns into a nightmare, and Nanna realizes that in order to get justice, she must take matters into her own hands.

Also starring are Flora Ofelia Hofmann Lindahl (As In Heaven) and Herman Tømmeraas (Ragnarok, Shame).

Birthday Girl is produced by René Ezra (Diorama, Queen Of Hearts) and Matilda Appelin (A Perfectly Normal Family, Before The Frost) for Nordisk Film Production. Shooting wrapped last month and Nordisk Film is eyeing a March 2, 2023 Danish release.

Managing Director of TrustNordisk, Susan Wendt, says, “We are thrilled to board another project by the talented Michael Noer — and we look forward to be working on this intense suspense drama that circulates around the search for justice on a cruise ship, making it all the more thrilling to be a part of.”
TrustNordisk has boarded international sales for Birthday Girl (working title), a cruise ship-set suspense drama from Danish director Michael Noer starring Trine Dyrholm.

The cast also includes Flora Ofelia Hofmann Lindahl (As in Heaven) and Herman Tømmeraas (Shame).

René Ezra (Queen Of Hearts) and Matilda Appelin (A Perfectly Normal Family) produce for Nordisk Film Production. The film wrapped shooting on April 22 and is being readied for a March 2023 launch through Nordisk.

Birthday Girl is about a mother, her teenage daughter and her daughter’s friend celebrating a birthday on a cruise ship to the Caribbean. On the first evening, the dream vacation turns into a nightmare and the mother takes justice into her own hands.

Noer wrote the screenplay with Jesper Fink. Backers of the Euros 3.5m production include the Danish Film Institute, the Norwegian Film Institute and Nordisk Film & TV Fond.

Noer’s past films include Before The Frost, Papillon and R.

‘The Good Boss’ triumphs at 2022 Platino Awards
Trine Dyrholm og Flora Ofelia Hofmann Lindahl, der har imponeret i ‘Du som er i himlen’ og ‘Ulven Kommer’, spiller mor og datter på en aparte fødselsdagstur i Michael Noers ventede krydstogtsdrama ‘Birthday Girl’.

Traileren er netop landet med neonlys, farvede drinks, Adidas-tracksuits, sårede følelser og rigtig mange overskridte grænser.

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Nanna tager sin datter Cille og dennes veninde Lea med på et krydstogt til Caribien, hvor hun gladeligt køber drinks og sætter festen i gang for sine mindreårige rejsekammerater på skibets diskotek.

Det eneste datteren ønsker sig til sin fødselsdag er til gengæld, at hendes » ikke er pinlig«, hvilket Nanna ikke helt evner at give hende. Festlighederne tager dog en voldsom drejning, da Cille bliver fundet alene på dækket efter nattens udskejelser og er blevet udsat for et overgreb. Men at få stillet nogen til ansvar på internationalt farvand bliver en grim kamp.

I castet finder man også Maja Ida Thiele, der medvirkede i DR-serien ‘Akavet’ samt Herman Tømmeraas, som nogle vil kunne genkende som Penetrator-Chris fra ‘Skam’.

Michael Noer er kendt for sine brutale skildringer i ‘R’, ‘Nordvest’ og senest fængselsserien ‘Huset’ på DR. Med ‘Birthday Girl’ tager han dog tingene i en anden retning end sidst, instruktøren var biografaktuel med det historiske drama ‘Før frosten’.

‘Birthday Girl’ får premiere 4. april.Cologne-based The Match Factory has acquired rights to Swedish-Polish helmer Magnus von Horn’s Danish pic “The Girl With the Needle,” billed as a “fairy-tale about a horrible truth.” In the starring roles are Trine Dyrholm (“In a Better World”, “Queen of Hearts”), Vic Carmen Sonne (“Godland”, “Holiday”) and Besir Zeciri (“Wildland”).

First clips of the stylised black-and-white chiller will be unveiled at the Works in Progress at Göteborg’s Nordic Film Market.

“Magnus von Horn is a talent to follow,” said The Match Factory’s head of sales Thania Dimitrakopoulou. “His story of “The Girl with the Needle” hooked us and his choice of cast and narrative style promises a great outcome. We are certain the audiences will relate to this.”

von Horn’s dark drama is his first foray into period genre, following his 2015 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight calling card “The Here After”, and his 2020 Cannes-selected and international festival hit “Sweat”, a “poised, impressive drama” according to Variety.

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Penned by von Horn and Line Langebek (“I’ll Come Running”), the story is very loosely based on the true crime story of Danish angel maker Dagmar Overbye, who helped poor women get rid of their unwanted babies and was sentenced to death in 1921.

In von Horn’s pic, set in post WW1 Copenhagen, the focal point is Karoline (Sonne), a young pregnant factory worker, who takes on the job of a wet-nurse for the charismatic Dagmar (Dyrholm) in order to escape poverty. Under the fake storefront of a candy shop, Dagmar runs a hidden adoption agency, helping poor mothers find foster homes for their unwanted infants. A strong bond develops between the women, but Karoline’s world is soon shattered, as she gets a grip on the nightmarish fate she unknowingly embraces.

“I’m not interested in looking at the dark side of human beings, but in the humanity that you might find in the darkest and least expected places,” said von Horn who worked more than four years on the script with Langebeck from her original idea.

“Basically, it’s the story of a woman who struggles with love – how to love and be a loving person – when it’s easier to flirt with the devil. How can we find the strength when it’s often easier to let go of a moral path and say: ‘F — – it all!”

The Göteborg-born helmer underlines elements borrowed from sagas and fairy-tales, such as the poor and innocent girl beguiled by a witch-like evil woman. He said turning to genre and costume drama was a way “to place this dark story at a safe distance from the audience,” and to make it entertaining and engaging for the audience. Beyond the metaphor, it was also a tool to make people reflect on important topics, such as abortion.

Discussing his use of black and white, the former Lodz Film School alumnus, who teamed up with “Sweat” cinematographer Michal Dymek, said he was keen to “recreate the feel and grain of past times”.

Currently in post-production, the pic is being produced by Denmark’s Malene Blenkov (“The Shift”) of Nordisk Film Creative Alliance, with Mariusz Wlodarski, in co-production with Poland’s Lava Films and Sweden’s Nordisk Film Production, with Film i Väst, the Łódź Film Fund, Dolnośląski Film Fund. “The Girl With the Needle” is supported by the Danish Film Institute, the Polish Film Institute, the Swedish Film Institute, DR, SVT, Nordisk Film & TV Fond and Eurimages.

Blenkov said the feature will be delivered in the spring.

The Göteborg Film Festival’s industry showcase Nordic Film Market runs Jan.31-Feb.2.

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Goteborg Film Festival, Nordic Film Market, Nordisk Film, The Match Factory