A general rule in life is if Mads Mikkelsen is in a film it’ll be great so watch it. As is the case for the excellent Another Round (2020), a Danish production that wallows in black comedy and drama.
Written and directed by Thomas Vinterberg, it follows the lives of several middle-aged school teachers. They decide to test a theory by psychiatrist Finn Skårderud where they maintain a steady level of blood alcohol content, all to bring their mundane lives back into action.
Drinking as a Lens into the Human Condition in Another Round
Druk (in Danish) follows the misadvantures of teachers Martin (Mikkelsen), Tommy (Thomas Bo Larsen), Nikolaj (Magnus Millang), and Peter (Lars Ranthe). They work at a school in Copenhagen and struggle with unmotivated kids, plus the usual family life stuff.
In particular, Martin is feeling very lost and his wife agrees he’s not the man she first fell in love with.
At a restaurant dinner for Nikolaj’s birthday, the guys get start drinking and discuss psychiatrist Finn Skårderud’s theory that humans have a natural alcohol deficiency. Skårderud argued that maintaining a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.05% encourages creativity and relaxation (the theory is also proposed in 1881’s On the Psychological Effects of Wine by Edmondo de Amicis).
We should note Skårderud is a former psychiatrist. He was struck off the medical register due to professional misconduct in 2023 and pleaded guilty to fraud in 2024. Thus, that’s how misguided the concept is for the guys in Another Round, one they plunge into with wild abandon.
They all take part in the experiment. Martin soon finds he’s a much more engaged teacher, he’s not as boring, and reconnects with his wife. Delighted with the results, he and the others decide to increase their daily drinking.
You can probably tell where things go from there.
As time goes on, the guys keep slightly increasing the daily amount. Then, one day, they lose control of the situation and get totally wasted.
What started off as a fun experiment soon spirals out of control. Nikolaj comes home so drunk he wets the bed and causes his wife to leave the family home. Martin is also eventually confronted by his wife and kids.
There are lashings of black humour throughout this, with Another Round perfectly capturing the joyfully exuberant side to drinking. The guys have a great laugh.
Then there’s the hangover, depicted in painful and emotional fashion.
Mads Mikkelsen leads the film brilliantly. He’s a hell of a talent (as we noted in our review of historical drama Promised Land). At the heart of all is Martin committing to a desperate, foolish attempt to save his marriage, which ends on a positive note but can be construed in various ways.
It’s more sad than funny, for sure, and embedded within the drunkenness is a lesson on how to handle a midlife crisis (i.e. not by drinking on the job). Martin numbs his emotions instead of opening up to his wife and life’s uncertainties, but in so doing learns to celebrate life and accept his lot.
The Production of Another Round
The film launched in September 2020 at the tail-end of many COVID lockdowns that year. Many people hadn’t been to the cinema at all that year, but the film was a surprising success. It made $21.7 million at the global box office from its small budget.
It then blasted to Oscar success, winning Best International Feature Film.
Director Thomas Vinterberg got the idea for the film from his daughter Ida. She told him stories of the younger generation’s drinking culture in Denmark. The country has a notorious youth drinking culture, one of the highest in the world (double the European average). 16 years of age is the minimum purchasing age in the country.
Despite the nature of the film, the actors were all sober on set. Off set, however, they did experiment with Finn Skårderud’s theory to see how it affected them.
Another Round was initially intended to be a more historical story on alcohol’s impact on society, but four days into filming Ida (aged only 19) tragically died in a car accident. She was due to star in the film as Martin’s daughter, but whilst in Belgium days before the shoot a distracted driver struck her vehicle.
Her father then updated the script to be darker in tone, but ultimately life-affirming, saying:
“It should not just be about drinking. It was about being awakened to life.”
Martin’s character arc has particular emotional resonance as a result. His character is written than way as a tribute to Vinerberg’s daughter. The film is also dedicated to her.
