I am a total Josefine Frida Pettersen stan since watching her steal the show as Noora in the Norwegian teen drama Skam a couple years ago. I was thrilled to see she was coming to Toronto as a “Rising Star”, in a movie directed by an up and coming female director no less.
Sadly, while Disco had some promising themes, and was beautifully shot, it never managed to gain momentum, and I found myself wondering what exactly the point was. Ultimately, the movie felt more like a poorly edited and neon saturated televangelist program than a coherent film. Multiple scenes of Pettersen’s Mirjam collapsing at surreal dance competitions (which to me looked like a nightmarish combination of EDM and hammy beauty pageantry) juxtaposed with her attendance at cult-like Christian ministries, grew tedious and boring, and never really led anywhere. Combine all this with a dash of bulimia, a gaslighting and abusive pastor/stepfather, and a mysterious and underdeveloped traumatic past, the whole thing wound up feeling undercooked and listless, with none of these plot threads gaining any meaningful traction.
I do hope to see more of Pettersen in future though, because even in this little mess of a movie, it’s clear she has real potential.
I am a total Josefine Frida Pettersen stan since watching her steal the show as Noora in the Norwegian teen drama Skam a couple years ago. I was thrilled to see she was coming to Toronto as a “Rising Star”, in a movie directed by an up and coming female director no less.
Sadly, while Disco had some promising themes, and was beautifully shot, it never managed to gain momentum, and I found myself wondering what exactly the point was. Ultimately, the movie felt more like a poorly edited and neon saturated televangelist program than a coherent film. Multiple scenes of Pettersen’s Mirjam collapsing at surreal dance competitions (which to me looked like a nightmarish combination of EDM and hammy beauty pageantry) juxtaposed with her attendance at cult-like Christian ministries, grew tedious and boring, and never really led anywhere. Combine all this with a dash of bulimia, a gaslighting and abusive pastor/stepfather, and a mysterious and underdeveloped traumatic past, the whole thing wound up feeling undercooked and listless, with none of these plot threads gaining any meaningful traction.
I do hope to see more of Pettersen in future though, because even in this little mess of a movie, it’s clear she has real potential.
