The Birdcatcher

Despite its well-intentioned efforts to draw attention to the plight of Norway's Jewish population during the Second World War, the curse of the continental co-production descends upon Ross Clarke's sophomore outing after 2015's little-seen thriller, Desiree. Screenwriter Trond Morten Venaasen has striven to root the action in fact, but his plotting is as clichéd as his dialogue is tin-eared. Consequently, it's difficult to empathise with Esther (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina), an aspiring teenage actress, who finds herself alone when the Nasjonal Samling party begins helping their Nazi overlords round up Trondheim's Jews. Disguising herself as a boy named Ola, she lands a job with quisling farmer Johann (Jakob Cedergren) and entrusts her secret to his son, Aksel (Arthur Hakalahti), who also feels like an outsider because he has cerebral palsy. The cast does its best, but Clarke's unsubtle direction strains at every turn to universalise the story, and the movie is memorable solely for John Christian Rosenlund's striking photography.