Excuse Me (2012) - Henrik Ruben Genz

Helene is a 22-year-old girl who lives with her very peculiar mother.  The identity of her father has always been kept secret from her and Helene is desperate to find her him.  Her search leads her to a local theatre to investigate the director, who she believes may be her father.  While there the director offers her mother's dog an important part in his production but soon after the dog suffers a mysterious demise, leading Helene to be cast in the role.  Henrik Ruben Genz' Excuse Me is a unique, strange, and ultimately satisfying dark comedy that is really a brilliant example of how tone can dictate feeling and mood.  This is a film in which many rather dark things happen from the main protagonist being raped to her mother being diagnosed with cancer, yet the tone is light and peculiar which makes these sequences more light-hearted and comedic than one could every imagine.  The other aspect which helps this black comedy stand out is its characters.  The cast and crew of this theater production are full of oddball characters from the self-absorbed lead actress, to the writer who can't come up with an ending, each character is truly strange which provide a lot of entertainment.  Our main protagonist of Helene is such a mysterious character, with the film never completely tipping its hat as to what is going on in her head.  The viewer is stringed along never really sure if this girl is a sociopath or just an odd girl whose naivety and timidness make her come off as strange.   Excuse me does lack a little clarity in the end as to what exactly is true among Helene, her mother, the director, etc. but this could be an intentional decision by Henrik Ruben Genz and there is no denying his craft in creating this odd but fun pitch-black comedy.

7.5/10

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