Loving Adults (2022) User Reviews

Interesting and unexpected plot twists with unlikable characters

[mheifets · 6/10 · 31 August 2022]

As others have said, good plot with unexpected twists. Middle aged businessman with a baggage of some financial cheating falls for his young associate who demands that he chooses between her and his family. Pretty standard set-up, but what follows is far from what you expect. Murders, blackmail and dark secrets from the past . The script sometimes feels strectched, but hey, its a movie!, keeps it it interesting, makes you wonder hwat happens next!!

I think the surprise ending would be fine as it is IF the characters (or at least one of them) were a bit more likable.

Regardless, a worthwhile film to watch, keeps you guessing to the end!

Nice Danish Crime Thriller

[Descent1 · 7/10 · 27 August 2022]

Loving Adults based on a novel, is a crime cliffhanger with unpredictable and fascinating story about love, jealousy and sacrifice. Its all about suspense and dark twists in order to keep a failed marriage intact.

I won't say much more, other that it is worth a watch. The leading actress is amazing, she really is the start of the movie.

The production values are good. The cinematography is cold and beautiful as you can expect from the Scandinavian industry.

In general, Loving Adults is quite an entertaining thriller with enough twists and turns to keep the viewers in their seats. The ending feels a bit weak in comparison with the climax

Of course it has its flaws but overall is worth a watch!

Very Good Movie, Weak Ending

[arochom-2 · 7/10 · 27 August 2022]

This movie had a lot of potential. I would even say that it is a very good movie, but the ending is weak and it is a little disappointing. At the beginning of the film is a man, who you might assume is a policeman, talking to a woman, about a case involving a successful husband who was cheating on his wife. The wife finds out. The man says wants out of the marriage, but the wronged wife will not gently be cast aside. In no time at all there are situations that put the man, by ever-increasing degrees, in great jeopardy.

The leading man is a good actor and commands a presence, but the leading actress steals the shows and brings to mind you don't really know your spouse as well as you thought you do.

I thought that the policeman at the beginning of the film (who is actually part of the story later on) would unveil a twist that would tie him and the rest of the story together. He certainly knew enough to put the man and wife away in prison. There is a small twist in the ending that is meh and makes you wonder, why would he tell such a story now, of all times, to his daughter just before her wedding?

Underrated.

[TreeFiddy53 · 7/10 · 12 September 2022]

This is a crime drama movie based on a book of the same Danish name (English: Till Death Do Us Apart, I think)

Very short runtime @ 1hr44m, watch this if you're in the mood for something different. I can name a similar 2014 crime/mystery thriller that you'd have watched, but if I name it to convince you to watch it, it might give the plot away.

The story revolves around a couple who, seemingly, have the perfect life until trust, morals, fidelity, etc. Are questioned. While it's not mindblowing, it's surely worth a one-time watch and there will be a couple diversions that you may not see coming.

Great cinematography (oooo, this movie looks amazing!) and sound design add to the value. Scores are underrating the film, so ignore them, and give it a shot.

a nicely made danish movie, with some good twists

[LetsReviewThat26 · 6/10 · 28 August 2022]

For this being the first danish netflix original, I have to say it was pretty good. Interesting twists and turns mixed with a good cast. As the way that netflix movies have been going, as well as some of the shows not all of them have been that great recently. But I feel this film is a step in the right direction. It may take a while to start and be a little boring before it gets started. But once it does its a good watch with some suspenseful moments and some that even could leave your jaw a little open. Overall a pretty decent netflix original and I look forword to seeing more like this in the future.

Love, really?

[baunacholi-86159 · 7/10 · 24 October 2022]

Stumbled upon this drama - thriller by accident and I can say it was quite a good one. Is it at times a bit far fetched ? Sure is, nonetheless it's what other multi million dollar productions fail to deliver.1,5 hrs of Entertainment, more than just one jaw dropping moment and twists which are quite unpredictable (and a bit unrealistic too ;) but this does not make it less tense. The base story and motives are not necessarily brand new but how it's mapped out is both captivating and somewhat realistic. Even though the characters are not your usual hero's u're rooting for you probably will chose a side only to realize there're no winner in this story about love, betray and death.

Love, hate, obssession, family, fidelity

[gustavojensen-98259 · 7/10 · 8 September 2022]

A film about infidelity, about family, love and hate, told by the police investigator to his daughter as if it were a sub-weapon but we see that it is actually the only plot we have, it could be dispensable and the script went directly.

In this Danish novel we have a great plot of infidelity and betrayal by husband Christian ( Dar Salim ) we first feel an aversion to him for destroying his marriage for his desire with his employee who keeps an affair, then we see his wife Leonora ( Sonja Richter ) a talented musician who gave up all her dreams for the family , in addition to the director showing us that the child's health problem has finally improved thanks to the current, financial and stabilized condition of the family .

Gradually the director is showing us the real face, Leonora, just as not even her own husband knew, has a past with homicide for pushing a teenage boyfriend from the cliff who stayed with another, so we see him as an obsessive woman, cunning and dangerous that will do anything to keep your love. And this discovery by Christian ends up being a bargaining chip the complicity of the financial coup case that Christian carried out years ago in order to pay for surgery for the couple's son in the USA and that Leonora will take the case to the police if he decides to stay with his mistress. This is a decision that leonora imposes on him, stay with her, son, house and car or her lover.

In a great plot twist ( same scene as at the beginning of the film that puts us as a spoiler, we already know that Christian intentionally runs over his wife ) we reach the 3rd act , and we found out that he wrongly killed another woman, who wore similar clothes. Even though he knew that his decision was for his love and not for marriage, things are reversed, and Leonora knowing the truth forces Christian to kill his lover ( because with her he always lives his life will be in danger ) what she ends up doing, because his love was greater, both hide their bodies at the stake of the Danish tradition that indicates the entrance to summer and formerly burned witches , but the truth we know that the witch is the one who stayed alive with her husband in her hand for everything she knows about him, couple of murderers and accomplices in each other's dirt with their beautiful marriage of appearances.

With medium main performance, great performance by sonja richter, great adapted script, great photography and taking the sub plot in a good direction, we have good suspense entertainment.

Excellent

[mjanssens26 · 9/10 · 31 August 2022]

A middle-age man has to choose between his wife and his mistress and he gets in to way more trouble than just that, along the way.

This is an awesome Danish thriller (dubbed believably in English) with plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing. You think you know which direction the film is headed in, but trust me, you absolutely don't. Watch it if you like Hitchcock-type thrillers. The leads are great and the ending was perfect and unexpected in my opinion.

I hope Netflix can give us more of these types of films in the future as I thoroughly enjoyed this one and found it to be fast-paced and fun.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned :)

[kikiboo_8 · 7/10 · 24 September 2022]

I rarely watch Scandinavian movies, not because I'm not interested but because I rarely come across one on sites where I normally watch movies.

Here, we have a husband whose gone astray to cheat on his wife with a younger, more beautiful woman and he actually fell in love with her.

His wife looks older than him and she's not too easy on the eyes either, but not awful. That's beside the point. She sacrificed her career to raise and nurture their son who was always ill due to some undefined disease. Or they defined it but I kinda skimmed or skipped a minute or two in parts that seemed boring or bland so I don't know.

Either way his wife finds out and his mistress pressures him into leaving his wife and son to be with her. Unlike most men this guy was actually really wanting to leave the wife and son and be with that other woman. He even tried to kill his wife after leaving her proved to be more trouble than it's worth. That's how bad he wanted to be with that girl.

Thankfully his wife wasn't stupid and wasn't to be toyed with, abandoned or otherwise mistreated. She really put both him and that mistress in their place like a pro. Alright, most people, myself included, wouldn't go as far as she did with murder and all, but at least she came out of the other side as a winner. She got very close to having her husband kill the mistress with his own hands, but as he was always a weak, manipulative douche, she had to step in and do it for him. Nonetheless, this "man" was then further put into his place when she made him help her dispose of the body. He couldn't say anything, he was trapped and had to do what he was told. Cause if not, he would suffer some pretty rough consequences.

The wife may have gone very far, but at least she didn't allow a man like this to destroy her life and her son's life along the way.

The guy got what he deserved, he was weak and not man enough to handle the situation with maturity and honesty. Actually he couldn't do it because if he had, the wife would expose his dirt for the cops to see.

It's pretty smart, they got a bittersweet ending. Wife held her own by any means available, and he lost his mistress, but managed to stay out of jail. Now he has to put up with his wife for good and that's pretty much it.

His wife may be a bit psycho but she was still smart and pulled the better end of the deal for herself. So, if I had to choose in whose shoes among them I'd rather be, I'd say the wife, no questions asked...

This is trash

[juliaanderssonmedia · 2/10 · 5 October 2022]

I don't understand most of the reviews on here. This movie is trash. The acting is terrible, especially from the main leads, the over-use of sinister music is laughable and the plot feels like taken from a 90's B movie.

There is no reason for the story to be told by the cop to his daughter and his story doesn't even add up: if he was so sure who was responsible for the crimes committed but couldn't prove it, why did he stand and watch like an idiot when the murderer hurried to get rid of the evidence right in front of him?

So why does so many reviewers praise this film? Are they trolling us?

Loving Adults

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 1 September 2022]

This Danish crime drama is told in flashback as a policeman talks to his daughter about a case he was unable to solve but is convinced he knows what happened. A woman is knocked down and killed by a hit and run driver. We then see, a few days earlier, married couple Christian and Leonora having an argument; he doesn't want her to see a text message he received in the middle of the night... understandable given that it is from his lover. When she finds out he is ordered out of the house and told that she intends to report a financial crime he committed some time before. He determines to kill her.

I really enjoyed this film. It provides plenty of twists and turns and for much of the time I was unsure whether we are being shown what actually happened or merely the policeman's theory; this added to the intrigue for me. Right up until the end credits began I had no real idea how it would end. There is a good sense of danger and some, but not an excessive, amount of violence. The cast is impressive; most obviously Dar Salim and Sonja Richter as Christian and Leonora respectively. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of psychological dramas.

These comments are based on watching the film in Danish with English subtitles.

This Movie Was Just Good

[StellaGibson-197-606285 · 7/10 · 25 October 2022]

I thought this movie was decent.

It is a Danish film and I really enjoy foreign films. When I was younger I would not watch anything with subtitles. I was such an idiot! When I turned 50 that all changed and next month I will be 62 and I am still catching up watching all the fab foreign movies I missed over those 40+ years.

If this was true crime it would make a super Dateline episode!

None of the characters are likeable, but that is the point of the movie. These are not nice people and bad people can do really horrible things. This movie shows what happens when one of these angry manipulative characters mistakenly murders the wrong person.

I really like the ending because it surprised me. The bad wicked people prevail and escape their punishment.

I can't ignore the loophole

[Joeyan0706 · 5/10 · 21 September 2022]

How could Christian know to rent a van to kill his wife but still send his car to auto wash after murdered a person? How could Leonara went to Xenia house and kill her? And she jump out from the window in hotel too? Does the alibi she made still valid? How they dispose the changes bedsheet? And how they return to hotel? Through the window again? Without anyone notice? To me is a bit ridiculous.

Also how come they plan to cremate the body in front of everyone? This is just too risky.

Anyway this is still a good movie to kill time. Go ahead if you can ignore the loophole and enjoy. I can only give 5/10.

7.3/10. Recommended

[athanasiosze · 7/10 · 23 January 2023]

This is a good drama/romance/thriller, in the same vein of UNFAITHFUL (2002), FATAL ATTRACTION (1987), A PERFECT MURDER (1998) etc. Actors are not so charismatic/attractive like Gere/Lane, Douglas/Paltrow etc, however they did a very goood job: Acting is one of the strongest aspects of this movie. They are 100% convincing. So is the plot. Everything that happened here is realistic, except for the final 20-ish minutes. Those minutes are the reason i don't rate it even higher, because some events were kinda far-fetched.

Still, this was not a bad ending. Just not as good as the rest of he movie. Overall, it was an exciting and intense movie with characters you can empathize with them, up to a point at least. As a viewer, i felt their hate, love, despair, passion, hope and hopelessness.

It seems to me that Danish cinema is thriving nowadays. Congratulations Denmark.

Hit and run!

[richardpowell-23908 · 6/10 · 18 September 2022]

Okay, no one in this scandi-thriller is going to win an Oscar any time soon! Some of the acting is truly terrible and the worst offenders were probably the two leading actors! Redeeming factors, well the hit-and-run scene is truly shocking and looks unbelievably realistic, they really couldn't have executed it any better! Also the locations used were fantastic and really helped with the visual side! I'm not sure I could recommend this movie strongly but if you do have a couple of hours to waste on a Friday night and you have a bottle of wine open this might just tick the boxes in terms of easy watching!

Predictions don't do to this movie

[dr_hgj-48231 · 7/10 · 14 March 2023]

Crime story by a Police Father as unsolved case and his mounting suspicions with many twists - turns though known human weaknesses and wises explored. Couple if remain to get her in even bilateral crime experience give lot of loopholes in investigations. Morally we may not agree any thing that favors crime but loop holes the mind set finds is amazing. This film is amongst top 50 thrillers Netflix gave us and people liked. Gore,Sex, Betrayal, family bonds, son sick, sabotage all explored with superbly carved out direction editing screen play music all ingredients justified. Commenting on end result may dilute the suspense thrill but Modern Juris Prudence is almost impossible to overcome.

Reminds me of CRIMES & MISDEMEANOURS (Woody Allen)

[canuckteach · 7/10 · 19 September 2022]

In CRIMES, poor Martin Landau falls into the clutches of a determined & hangry mistress (Anjelica Huston), who threatens to blow the whistle to his family, and also to report a financial indiscretion he committed, if he does not dump his family for her. In LOVING ADULTS, our protagonist, Christian (also a well-to-do professional) is in a similar bind: his pretty mistress, Xenia, also wants to wrench him away from his family, and she, too has knowledge of an indiscretion he has committed. The difference between the 2 plots? Christian is wacky about his mistress; Martin Landau is fed up with his & seeks desperate means to end his problem.

As we discover early in the film, Christian is not so squeamish about ending his 'female' problem, but he chooses a course contrary to Landau's: he decides his pretty & talented (but aging wife) must go. As the story unfolds, as narrated by a local detective, we wait to see if the police can catch the guilty man. CRIMES ended with a very sardonic outcome, free of guilt and discovery. I can't tell you if that happens here, since I am only 40 minutes in, but I think I am going to like it. Oh: A couple of sensual scenes might need fast-forwarding.

Came in with low expectations because US shows have destroyed the genre

[hadzsocial · 8/10 · 30 August 2022]

I was expecting a scorned wife who can't think for herself because that's how this kind of show always goes. I hated Leonora because she seemed weak, and then I loved her. There are only a handful of times that we root for villains and this was one of those times for me. She first appeared to be the stereotypical housewife who (stupidly) sets aside herself in favor of her family and so her husband gets to be successful.

But, she was deliciously cunning and manipulative, not typical weakling who will eat, pray, love after her marriage breaks up.

I love it when I can't predict how shows end. The twist at the end was an interesting flourish.

This movie includes a plot twist that I can only compare with how the movie "Saw" ends.

[Erik_Surewaard · 7/10 · 1 January 2023]

When I read most of the reviews on IMDb, people either find this movie very good or very bad. Well, I actually think both are wrong. The word "very" would mean it is extreme compared to other movies. And that most certainly is not the case.

Whilst watching this movie, I was kept interested from start to the end. And that is in my opinion a really good indicator of how worthwile a watch a movie is.

What I especially liked in this movie is the unexpected "plot twist". Something happens in this movie that you just don't see coming. It is such an excellent plot twist that - when I come to think of it - is best compared with how the movie "Saw" ends. This where the man lying in the middle of the room - whom you assume to be dead all along - suddenly stands up and appears to be alive.

And I do not think that I am the only one being surprised by this "plot twist". I see many other reviewers mentioning it in their title. And surely even reviewers that gave this movie a "very bad"-rating must have been surprised by this plot twist. So I dare to challenge them on this point.

On the other hand, there is valid criticism to be given on how the movie ends. Since this movie is based on a book, I do not know whether the ending fits with how the book ends... But without going into detail - i.e. I do not want to spoil the watch before you have seen the movie - I think the current ending just doesn't make that much sense. It is as if the screenwriters were running an excellent marathon, but gave up in the last mile. But does the current "sloppy ending" define the complete movie?! Hell no!

All-in-all, I found this movie a pretty worthwile watch. The already mentioned plot twist was thereby such a defining moment in this movie that it should be represented in the rating. In my opinion this movie is clearly an "above-average" watch that - as already mentioned - keeps you interested from start till end. I think it deserves a rating of 7.3/10, which needs to be rounded to an IMDb score of 7 stars.

You're being trolled by those rave reviewers!!

[showmonkey · 1/10 · 7 September 2022]

I read all these reviews and kept waiting for this movie to become good, and deliver on those "twists" and whatever, but the entire movie was completely nonsensical, with terrible acting, terrible characters and a rehashed plot (BBC's Dr. Foster was much better). I soon realized that those people giving 9 stars must be trolling everyone. The husband character just had a perpetual look of "I forgot my lines" or "Am I on the right set??" ; there were no redeemable/likable women characters in this; the woman he's having an affair with is just as shrillish a troll as the wife; and even her "best friend" totally sells her out. The story being told by a cop to his daughter added nothing to the storyline, and then when you find out where they are and why he's telling the story...I mean, ok, so while that was unexpected, who really gives a crap and that did not add any value to the storyline. There was definitely no suspense at all; the cops were duuuuuuuuuuuuuuumb, and the dubbing was awful. Anyway, please save yourself 2 hours and do not watch this.

Excellent and terrifying!!!

[Guanche48 · 9/10 · 1 September 2022]

WOWWWW!!!! Much better than I expected, perhaps predicted for some, but not for me. I'm not a fan of stories of jealousy and divorce, like soap operas. But none of that, it's very exciting, psychopathic, psychological and terrifying. The two main actors are fantastic! The tension feels raw. The combination of images from start to finish is fantastic, and the story goes from simple to very complicated and scary very quickly. Two selfish psychopaths in a more than vicious circle. This movie blew me away. Don't miss it, and be careful if you don't like horror and creepy stories.

Excellent and terrifying.

Diabolical thriller

[Luigi Di Pilla · 7/10 · 18 February 2023]

I studied first the reviews here before I started this intriguing and diabolical thriller. The critics were exactly what i expected and I spent with my wife really a hell ride.

The main actors delivered a great performance and the danish locations were well chosen. All in all they created a mysterious atmosphere with suspense. The hopeless couple relation ship was deeply developed and came very realistic there that I don't spoil further here.

If you like this genre of movies check out the two Hollywood thrillers A Perfect Murder and Diabolique, the Spanish Netflix production Contratiempo or the Mexican Netflix series Who Killed Sara.

It deserves 7/10 for high entertainment value.

Interesting turns, then a comical, totally unbelievable ending.

[jfbbcsjrqg · 1/10 · 4 September 2022]

It's like the screenwriter just fell asleep, got drunk, or just decided to assume the viewers would be just as stupid as the characters are start to finish in this weak attempt at what could have been a much better movie without the totally illogical and idiotic conclusion. I won't say more, in case somebody actually just wants to waste a little under two hours of their life on a faux dramatic ending that makes you want to shoot the router so this can never happen to you again. Either that, or Danish police make the Keystone Cops look like geniuses.

Also, it doesn't help that the overdubbing into English is done by people that clearly are working without the benefit of actually seeing the film. Never heard such flat, emotionless 'voice acting' before.

Good Scandi-Psycho-Thriller

[mrglenngrant · 7/10 · 9 January 2023]

Absolutely loved the twist in this film ... when he's run over his wife (haha) and then goes back home only for his wife to walk in! Fantastic!

Up until then it had all the makings of a really good Scandi-crime thriller. Unfortunately ... although it was still good overall ... the storyline did get a little daft at times after that. And the guy couldn't have acted more guilty if he'd tried - either with his wife or with the police.

I liked how he couldn't go through with killing his lover and then who turns up to do the job? Weird crazy wife! Of course!

I saw that the body was in the bonfire a mile off. Surprised that the cop who we're supposed to asume is sharp as a tack didn't think of that ... even though the trained dogs were doing everything short of standing up and pointing at it!

Also liked how ... in a departure from the norm ... they got away with it!

69/100.

Mr. and Mrs. Macbeth

[lavatch · 7/10 · 4 September 2023]

"Loving Adults" (Kærlighed for voksne) is a Danish film that more or less draws upon the Macbeth archetype of a husband and wife who will stop at nothing to achieve their personal goals.

Instead of the power politics in the marriage of Shakespeare's Scottish characters, this version features Christian and Leonora in a power struggle within their relationship. Christian is driven by his attraction to Xenia in an adulterous affair; Leonora is driven by preservation of her wealth and the future of her son.

The cat-and-mouse game included much suspense as the two characters are engaged in an ebb-and-flow struggle. But the downside was that the overall effect was chilling, especially with the collateral damage of an innocent neighbor out for a jog and the character of Xenia, who leaves this world all too soon.

At least in Shakespeare's "Macbeth" there are the redeeming forces of good triumphing over evil in the character of Macduff overthrowing the usurping tyrant. But in this film, there was an added ghoulish touch of the police detective recounting this horror story to his daughter on her wedding day!

The performances were first-rate, and there was professional work in the English language dubbing process of the sound track.

Compelling, but bleak cinema!