The Here After (2015) Directed by Magnus Von Horn Written by Magnus Von Horn Available on Mubi UK

Months after Magnus Von Horn arrived in Poland from his native Sweden to attend film school in Lodz, he was viciously attacked and robbed. This memory stayed with him and he became interested in violence. His first short film centred around that topic as did his first feature length film, The Here After, which was first shown at the Cannes Film Festival during the Directors’ Fortnight.

But having violence as a main theme doesn’t mean noisy shoot-outs, frenetic urban car chases, and dozens of corpses. No, this is not a film that uses violence gratuitously as salacious entertainment. Instead it explores violence - how can it arise suddenly? What frustrations and inadequacies in the individual precipitate such a reaction? How about its sequelae? Can a person convicted of a violent crime ever redeem themselves? How do they have a second chance of life, if they are allowed to do so? And what scars have been left in the community they devastated, and could these in turn lead to catastrophe? What is a just punishment for the ultimate violence, and should it be forever?