The Testament of Ann Lee, Obex, and The Last Viking
in which our narrator admits that he might be in over his head
I’m back in Germany after a long holiday season in the states, and I have three movies stacked up to say something about. Unfortunately I don’t have much to say! In the spirit of getting caught up, we’ll shake up the format this time and just get something written.
The Testament of Ann Lee (2025)
Gorgeous! Compelling! Human!
The story is a little thread of americana woven tightly into the dense tapestry of northeastern American history. These — the Shakers — were always a small group: nine made the crossing to New York, at peak they numbered two to four thousand, and today they are just three. And yet they live on in the many clever and beautiful things they made.
In high school we sang Simple Gifts, one of thousands of Shaker hymns. My parents have what I now believe to be a set of Shaker chairs, or at least chairs made in the Shaker style. They’re light, comfortable, sturdy, and seem to be endlessly repairable.
The cultural legacy of this small, hardworking group is remarkable. I’m thankful to Mona Fastvold and her cast and crew for giving me a peg on which to hang these details of my life.
Obex (2026)
This is an odd one. It felt very much to me like two different movies. The first half is an instrospection into a life of isolation that felt unsettlingly familiar to me. There are real emotions here, and it gives you the time to feel your way through them, while also building up to the midpoint switch.
The second half is a simple adventure movie. Everything and everyone exists to support the plot. Emotions are simple and stated aloud. All threads resolve by the end. The writing here had only as much depth as the ancient Mac games it was emulating.
Maybe there’s something in that contrast? Our main character is a shut-in who won’t even open the door to talk to the woman who goes grocery shopping for him. His dreams are nightmarish reverberations of some childhood trauma. His only means of dealing with the challenging emotions of everyday life is to drown them out in media overload. The two-part structure could be an intentional reflection of this life: the overwhelming trials of the everyday set against the straightforward formula of the media that we use to escape it.
I dunno, man. I’d rather sit with the complex emotions for the whole 90 minutes. For a movie that does that, check out Still Walking (2008). A man, his wife, and their son visit his parents to commemorate the anniversary of his brother’s death.
Alternatively if you just want to see some wacky shit happen in black and white, try Hundreds of Beavers (2022).
The Last Viking (2025)
Mads Mikkelsen in a heartfelt role = instant recommendation every time. The man is in a lot of Hollywood shovelware — like seriously, did anyone expect a hit from Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny? — but when given a role with depth he fills it admirably.
Not really sure what to say that would add to this movie, so I think I’ll leave you today with two other Mads Mikkelsen movies that really show what he can do.
In Another Round (2020), he plays a high school teacher who agrees with a few of his colleagues to chase the Ballmer peak: maintain a blood alcohol level of 0.5% during work hours, under they hypothesis that it will improve their lives.
In The Hunt (2012), he plays a divorced kindergarten teacher who is falsely accused of sexually abusing a child, with disastrous consequences.
That’s all we’ve got today! I will try to go see some more movies this weekend to catch up with what’s coming out here, and workshop some more how to fit a trip to the theater into my work week.
To all you popsicle-fingered folks in the US, I hope you are staying warm and melty indoors.
See you soon!