Troubled Water 2021

As a teenager, Jan Thomas Hansen and a friend run off with Isak, a young boy left outside a cafe in a stroller by his mother. The boy runs away, slips, and hits a rock, suffering a head injury that appears to be fatal. Under pressure from his friend and fearing the consequences, Jan Thomas carries the boy toward a river with a strong current and lets him drift away. He testifies that the fatal injury came from the fall, but he is convicted of murder. While serving time in jail, he plays the organ for church services.

Years later, as a young man, Jan Thomas is released and resumes work as an organ player at a church. He befriends Anna, the church priest and a single mother, and her young son Jens. Agnes, Isak’s mother, learns that Jan Thomas has been freed and worries for the safety of her two adopted daughters. Her panic strains her relationships with the two girls and with her husband, while he accepts a job offer to move the family to Denmark in hopes of easing Agnes’s anxiety.

Agnes sees Jan Thomas with Jens and becomes increasingly concerned about the boy’s safety. When Jan Thomas lets Jens wait for a few minutes outside Jens’s school while he grabs something inside, he returns to find Jens missing. Jan Thomas becomes deeply worried as the search unfolds. In a dangerous moment, Jens slips into the river and nearly drowns; Jan Thomas risks his own life by grabbing a branch and hanging on. Agnes intervenes in a surprising twist and helps them reach the shore. After this ordeal, Jan Thomas confesses to Agnes what really happened to her son Isak.

The film was released in the USA by filmmovement.com.