Epidemic 1987

Loss of the script copy

Lars and Niels discover they have lost the only copy of their film script Kommisæren Og Luderen. They decide to write a new screenplay about an outbreak of a plague-like disease. The loss triggers a metafictional loop where elements of their imagined story begin to intersect with real events.

Starting a new epidemic story

They begin drafting a new script focused on an epidemic, building a narrative that mirrors the looming crisis. The project absorbs their attention and begins to influence how they view the world around them. The line between fiction and reality starts to blur.

Dr Mesmer travels to the countryside to aid

Doctor Mesmer defies the Faculty of Medicine's objections and travels to the countryside to help people. He acts on his sense of duty despite institutional resistance. His journey foreshadows the real world outbreak that echoes in the script.

Parallels between script and reality emerge

As days pass, the events of the new script begin to blur with actual disease cases appearing in society. The system of symptoms, outbreaks, and investigations mirrors the imagined plot. The writers watch the world echo their own story.

Lars and Niels travel to Germany

The duo travels to Germany seeking new material and encounters locals who recount wartime memories. Their journey provides historical texture that enriches the epidemic narrative. The trip intensifies the intertwining of fiction and reality.

Meeting Udo Kiev

In Germany they meet Udo Kiev, who describes the Allied bombing of Cologne during World War II. His memories add a deeper sense of catastrophe and human response. The encounter connects past devastation to the present outbreak in the writers' minds.

Return and hospital visit

After the trip, Niels goes to a hospital for a minor surgical procedure. He tells Lars to visit Palle, a pathologist who is performing an autopsy on a man who recently died from an unknown disease. The sequence links medical investigation with the unfolding outbreak.

Autopsy of unknown disease victim

Palle conducts the autopsy, detailing the mysterious disease and offering clues about its pathology. The clinical examination adds a layer of realism to the story and foreshadows the real events. Lars becomes involved as the autopsy results emerge.

Dinner with the producer and ending revelation

On the last day, Lars and Niels have dinner with their producer and reveal the ending: Mesmer and his medical kit have spread the disease. The producer dislikes the short twelve-page script for lacking violence and subplots. The revelation heightens the metafictional tension between creation and reality.

Hypnotist and a woman arrive to help

A hypnotist and a woman arrive to help finish the script, but the woman is overwhelmed by visions becoming real. The woman screams and cries as the imagined events intrude on the present. The atmosphere grows increasingly unstable.

The woman's collapse and suicide

The woman is overwhelmed by the script's visions and tries to cope with the reality they reveal. She screams and cries as the imagined events intrude on everyday life. She commits suicide with a fork, marking the first fatal consequence of the collapsing boundaries between fiction and disease.