Terribly Happy 2008

Copenhagen policeman Robert Hansen [Jakob Cedergren] has been reassigned by his supervisor, the chief of police in Tonder, to a temporary post as the sole officer in the village of Skarrild, a boggy lowland, where he must confront a world far from the city’s rhythms and rules. He arrives still carrying the weight of a recent breakdown, the result of a gun threat against his wife and her lover, and he longs for a quick relief so he can reunite with his daughter, Josefine, who has been told he’s in Australia.

In Skarrild, he encounters the town’s oddball quartet at the center of its quiet unease: Dr. Zerleng [Lars Brygmann] and his two cronies, the grocer, and the priest, all hoping to recruit him to be the fourth player in their regular card game. He also meets Ingerlise Buhl, a woman who has endured marital abuse, and who begins to insinuate herself into Robert’s daily routine. Robert also stops by the local bicycle shop, only to learn that the owner vanished some time ago, leaving an empty storefront as a silent reminder of the town’s mysteries. The small, insular world of Skarrild slowly reveals itself, and Robert senses that the locals prefer to dispense their own rough justice rather than involve the authorities from Tonder.

To protect Ingerlise, Robert finds himself drawn to her, and after a brutal incident of abuse by her husband, Jørgen Buhl, he goes to her home to check on her. He enters through an open door and discovers Ingerlise lying in bed, slightly battered, and she begins to seduce him. He yields, and when her sexual sounds threaten to wake Jørgen, he muffles her with a pillow, unintentionally suffocating her. He escapes before Jørgen stirs, but the tragedy weighs on him from that moment onward. The next day, the locals are alerted, and Robert returns to the scene to face the consequences. A doctor arrives to examine the body, and Robert offers only a vague account of events, while the doctor declares the death a cardiac arrest. He worries about the town’s response and about Dorthe, Ingerlise and Jørgen’s daughter, being left an orphan, even as he tries to shield the truth from the Tonder authorities.

As Ingerlise’s funeral approaches, Robert realizes a missing button from his uniform pocket remains from the night’s events. At the funeral luncheon, the priest hints that Robert should keep an eye on Jørgen, because the townsfolk do not like wife-killers and suspect he is guilty. That night, Robert parks outside Jørgen’s house and, in the morning, follows a duo of cars that take him to the edge of the bog, where they force Jørgen at gunpoint to go into the marsh. Robert draws his pistol, orders the men to stop, and saves Jørgen from being dragged away. He then retrieves Dorthe, who had hidden at the grocer’s, and reassures her that the night’s events were misunderstood, taking her back to her father.

Later, Jørgen confronts Robert at a bar and issues a drinking challenge that leads them back to Robert’s apartment. After several rounds, Jørgen reveals the missing button, hinting at what happened that night. In a tense, desperate moment, Robert retrieves a gun from his desk and shoots Jørgen twice, the second shot proving fatal. He drags Jørgen’s body to the bog and drives back to town, exhausted, only to fall asleep in his police car.

The following morning, the Tonder chief of police returns and Robert is pulled into the investigation of a boot found in the bog. Expecting the worst, he waits in the chief’s cruiser as the two recount the town’s grim calculus: they could declare Jørgen’s death a suicide and have Robert return to Copenhagen and his daughter, thus simplifying life for everyone. A quiet, weary smile suggests Robert’s fate may be decided by forces larger than his own conscience.

In the days that follow, Robert is seen preparing to leave Skarrild behind. He makes a final stop at the doctor’s ongoing card game to say goodbye, only to learn that the card-playing circle understands what happened with Ingerlise and Jørgen, and that their secret has altered the town’s balance. The grocer’s words linger in the room: “You’re our man now, Robert.” With that, Robert takes a seat at the table, becoming the fourth player in their intimate, unsettling game of fate.