Epic Family Saga by Thomas Vinterberg: A Look at ‘Families Like Ours’

Oscar-winning Danish director Thomas Vinterberg, celebrated for Another Round, The Hunt, and his groundbreaking Dogme 95 breakthrough film, The Celebration, makes his highly anticipated TV drama debut with the seven-part mini-series Families Like Ours (original title: Familier som vores).

Premiering at the 81st Venice International Film Festival 2024 in the ‘Official Selection – Out of Competition’ section, this seven-part mini-series has received critical acclaim, generating excitement and anticipation for its October 20 launch on TV 2 and TV 2 Play in Denmark.

Co-written by Thomas Vinterberg and Bo Hr. Hansen (known for Darkness: Those Who Kill, Bullshit), Families Like Ours marks a continuation of their collaborative writing journey, which began with the drama-comedy De største helte from 1996. It also includes the short film Drengen der gik baglæns (1994), and the more recent theatrical adaptation of Festen (The Celebration).

Amaryllis August and Nikolaj Lie Kaas in ‘Families Like Ours’. Photo: Per Arnesen/Zentropa/TV 2

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Synopsis

Families Like Ours begins in the middle of the Danish summer, when life is going as usual. But like a bolt from a clear sky, everything is torn apart. The rising water level can no longer be ignored, and the government decides that the entire country of Denmark must be evacuated. All properties suddenly become worthless, and houses and institutions are left abandoned, while families, friends, and lovers are forced in different directions. Those who can afford it travel to wealthy countries, while the less well-off depend on the state-funded program and must move where there is space. Chaos, division, and helplessness knock on the doors of the Danes. But despite the farewell to the homeland, the world still turns. In many places, love also blossoms, people reconcile, and the hope of being reunited lives on.

Families Like Ours is a grand and intimate family drama about the farewell to our country and all that we know, and about people’s indomitable will to survive, hope, and love.

Watch the official international trailer:

Thomas Vinterberg. Photo: Anders Overgaard/Zentropa/TV 2

Thomas Vinterberg About Families Like Ours

Families like ours is, in all modesty, conceived as an epic family saga inspired by the great European emigration stories, with an echo of the melancholic songs and tales that ring all the way back from when parts of Europe emigrated to America.

The story takes place in a reality that is confusingly similar to our current one. Everything is as we know it, except that this existence, which we just know so well, is slowly brought towards a new beginning. If you dive into the individual destinies, the world feels big, irrational, and wonderful at the same time. Families are shattered into atoms and new lives are born. Love blossoms as unexpected reunions and reconciliations take place.

Recognition is important. The intimate psychological drama is important. It is not a disaster story about nature’s revenge on man, but an examination of human themes such as parting, separation and survival. An examination of my own and my then 7-year-old son’s concerns about the way the world is going. At worst, a look into the future. At best, an expression of our common fears, and a reflection of what we want to protect.

“Thomas Vinterberg has created an original, intense and moving series, and I am really proud that the series will premiere on TV 2 and TV 2 Play. He is in a class of his own as a filmmaker, and with ‘Families like ours’ Vinterberg gives us a series we have never seen before. He is a master at addressing the very big themes and emotions in an incredibly close and relevant way, and in this series he unfolds big themes such as family relationships, communities and new beginnings in an absolutely eminent way.”
Mette Nelund, Head of Fiction at TV 2 Denmark

The Cast

The star-studded Danish ensemble cast features Amaryllis August as the high school student Laura, Albert Rudbeck Lindhardt as her boyfriend Elias, Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Department Q: The Keeper of Lost Causes, Riders of Justice) as her father Jacob, Paprika Steen (Applause, Celebration) as her mother Fanny, and Helene Reingaard Neumann (Another Round) as her father’s new wife Amalie. The cast also includes Esben Smed as Amalie’s brother Nikolaj, Magnus Millang as his husband Henrik, David Dencik as Henrik’s unruly brother, Thomas Bo Larsen as Fanny’s brother Holger, Max Kaysen Høyrup as the boy Lucas, and Asta Kamma August as the boy’s mother.

The Characters

LAURA (Amaryllis August), a caring 3rd grader from a wealthy suburb of Copenhagen, faces a difficult dilemma: stay with her struggling mother in Romania or embrace a promising future in France with her father, where new opportunities and love await her.

ELIAS (Albert Rudbeck Lindhardt), a popular 3rd grader at Laura’s high school, is drawn to her innocence and intelligence. Torn between going to Finland with his family or accepting her invite to Paris, he’s eager to help her when trouble arises.

JACOB (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), a successful architect, is divorced from Fanny and married to Amalie, with whom he has a young son, Mikkel. He feels guilty about Laura’s struggles after the divorce and is pressured to support his new family, which drives him to make hasty decisions.

FANNY (Paprika Steen), a freelance science journalist and Laura’s mother, has struggled to write due to stress and insists on remaining independent. While she prioritizes Laura’s future, she wrestles with anxiety over the move to Romania and declines Laura’s invitation to Paris, fearing she might be a burden.

AMALIE (Helene Reingaard Neumann), married to Jacob and mother of young Mikkel, is a well-educated psychologist from a wealthy family. Deeply caring and family-oriented, she empathizes with Laura’s dilemma and secretly helps her explore options, yet she sometimes overlooks when her father, Bjørn, takes advantage of their kindness.

NIKOLAJ (Esben Smed) is Amalie’s brother, married to the landowner Henrik, whom he loves deeply. Working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he enjoys his life and career but longs for a child. Loyal to those he loves, he can cut ties with betrayers, including their father, Bjørn, while supporting Henrik in addressing his troubled brother, Peter.

HENRIK (Magnus Millang), a landowner and contractor, is happily married to Nikolaj. He manages projects with his brother-in-law, Jacob, while living in his childhood home. Despite a complicated relationship with his brother, Peter, Henrik shares a close bond with Jacob and values integrity and empathy.

PETER (David Dencik) is Henrik’s estranged brother, married with two children. A wealthy real estate mogul, he is greedy and ruthless, often humiliating Henrik. They run separate businesses to avoid each other, but Peter frequently feels wronged and blames others, even as Henrik yields to him.

CHRISTEL (Asta Kamma August) is a single mother to 11-year-old Lucas and works as a receptionist. Coming from Vestegnen, she has learned to fight for herself but tends to be hard on herself. Lucas means everything to her, and she will sacrifice to secure him the best future. With the boy’s father long gone, they face the world together, having what they need, but not much more.

LUCAS (Max Kaysen Høyrup) is Christel’s 11-year-old son, a sensitive boy who worries about the world and his future. While he struggles to fit in, he shines as a natural talent on the football field. Christel is central to his life, but he also relies on Laura, who helps him navigate his overwhelming thoughts and understands his sensitivity in a way others do not.

HOLGER (Thomas Bo Larsen) is Fanny’s older brother and the family’s black sheep with a troubled past. Now an asphalt worker, he takes life as it comes and cares deeply for Fanny, saddened by her struggles. He is also fond of Laura, despite rarely seeing her, as Fanny and Laura are the key women in his life.

Facts About the Series

Filming began in August 2022 and took place over just under a year in five different countries: Denmark, France, Sweden, Romania, and the Czech Republic.
In addition to a star-studded cast, over 40 foreign actors and as many as 2,500 extras from all over Europe took part in the series.
The shooting has been intense and challenging, and characterized by deep concentration and efficiency. But also with a surplus for a good mood and pleasant moments. There have been challenges in relation to the long shooting period, with much to be achieved, wind and weather, many countries and many languages.
Over 100 hours of footage have turned into a finished series of seven episodes with a total duration of around six hours.
Thomas Vinterberg always plays as an extra in a scene, and in Families Like Ours it is as a customer in a bank.
Virtually all of Zentropa’s employees and their families are photoshopped onto a large ‘Missing People Wall’ in one scene.
Thomas Vinterberg’s first drama series has been specially selected for a place in a time capsule, which on Thursday 26 September 2024 was installed by King Frederik X in connection with the laying of the foundation stone for the reconstruction of the Stock Exchange in Copenhagen. The King and Culture Minister Christina Egelund had selected a few significant objects for the time capsule, which will not be opened in 100 years at the earliest, and the series was the Culture Minister’s contribution. The contribution is symbolized by documents with Thomas Vinterberg’s directorial intentions, the series’ synopsis, key visuals, images from the series and the character gallery.
Families Like Ours is Zentropa’s biggest production to date.

The series is produced by Sisse Graum Jørgensen (‘Another Round’) and Kasper Dissing (‘Another Round’) at Zentropa Entertainments for TV 2 Denmark, STUDIOCANAL, CANAL+, in co-production with NRK, TV4, ARD Degeto, and co-produced by Film i Väst, Sirena Film, Zentropa Sweden, Ginger Pictures, and Saga Film.