“A complicated film that abounds with joy and sadness.”

Happy Happy may be one of the nicest and sweetest films about infidelity ever made. This foreign film is set in the snowy back country of Norway, in a place where the majority of time is spent with family, and solitude is commonplace. With nothing else to do, it’s unsurprising that when two unhappy marriages collide the results are electrifying.

When new neighbors move in across the way, Kaja is overjoyed and excited to make friends. Though Kaja is bright, bubbly, and beautiful, she has been having problems with her husband Eirik, and they haven’t had sex in over a year. Things go a little differently than expected when Sigve, the neighbor husband and Kaja begin an affair, setting off a series of events that have the power to destroy or heal both families.

Some of the revelations in the film, especially regarding sexuality and our obligations to one another are remarkable, and I hesitate to give too much of the plot away. Screenwriter Ragnhild Tronvoll has written a good script that gives the actors plenty of room to maneuver in and out of hilarious conversations and heartbreaking solitude. The film is Norweigian, and the dialogue survives the subtitle translation to English, remaining hilarious and incisive. Agnes Kittelsen, who plays the part of Kaja, deserves special recognition for her work in the film: Kaja is façade and brutal honesty all at once, and filled with a seemingly endless amount of love to give, which makes the treatment she receives from Eirik all the more devastating. With only four main characters, we have plenty of time to get to know everyone fairly well, and our sympathies shift and change as time goes on.

There are a lot of shocking moments in the film, particularly regarding the children of the two couples who engage in cruelties undetected by the adults, who are preoccupied with their own struggles. This endless and selfish pursuit of happiness by nearly all the characters doesn’t seem to trouble anyone too deeply, but we soon learn everyone is living with a few of their own lies. As the truth comes out, everyone is given a chance to make some changes. At the same time, the film makes sense of all the choices made, and though we may not agree with them, we certainly understand how everyone dug themselves into this mess.

The Norweigian title, Sykt Lykkelig, is more accurately translated as “Insanely Happy” and it shows. There is an absence of anger throughout the film as different partners come to terms with what has happened both to them as individuals and then to their marriages. But there are no childish hysterics or dramatic violence, and perhaps this is a difference between American expectations and European ones, but that feels too easily dismissive. The couples find themselves in a new reality and simply accept that they will learn how to cope and how to navigate these unknown waters.

Ultimately a complicated film that abounds with joy and sadness, Happy Happy is one of the best films I saw at Sundance, and a mature exploration of the difficult world of adult relationships.

Grade A-

Tags: amanda mae meyncke, happy happy, sundance review