Unruly 2022

In Copenhagen in 1933, Maren is a rebellious teenager who dances to jazz in nightclubs and at late-night gatherings, using the rhythm of the music to escape the dreary, squalid reality of her home life. When neighbors raise concerns, Child Services arrives to interview her mother, and the ensuing decision sets Maren on a harsh path away from the life she knows.

During the initial interview, Dr. Wildenskov questions her and, deeming her difficult to reach, suspects sexual promiscuity and views her as mildly mentally deficient. Based on this assessment, he recommends that she be placed in a home for delinquent girls on the island of Sprogø.

On Sprogø, Maren shares a room with Sørine. Sørine reports any infractions to staff in the hope that compliance will speed her own release so she can see her young daughter. Repeated interviews find Maren still uncooperative, and she soon realizes that her silence has condemned her to a long stay under strict, punishing rules. The regime on the island is harsh, with draconian punishment, isolation, and gruelling work, and her pleas to be re-interviewed are met with refusal.

A storm forces workmen to stay overnight on the island, and Maren is drawn to one of them. She escapes her room and spends the night with him, becomes pregnant, and is sent to the mainland to give birth. Her child is taken from her within days, and while still recovering in the hospital, she learns that she has been sterilised under a newly enacted Danish law.

During a movie night, Maren and Sørine stage a diversion and, amid the chaos, attempt to escape the island via the projectionist’s boat. They are intercepted before the engine starts, and Maren jumps into the ocean. The staff cannot locate her immediately, and her lifeless body is found the next day.

Eventually, Sørine learns that she may leave the island, but only under continued care from Protective Services and at the cost of sterilisation. Desperate to one day see her daughter again, she agrees and is placed as a maid with a frail, elderly couple. After three years, she is told she will be released from Protective Services custody, and she goes to meet her daughter, Ellen.

The film closes with Sørine and Ellen walking down a country road, and a final text reveals that the home on Sprogø was open from 1923 to 1961.