Sex (2024 film)

Sex is a 2024 Norwegian drama film written and directed by Dag Johan Haugerud for Viaplay. The film starring Jan Gunnar Røise and Thorbjørn Harr, is the first instalment in the new "Sex Dreams Love" trilogy. It follows two men in heterosexual marriages whose unexpected experiences challenge their perceptions of sexuality, gender and identity.

The film was selected in the Panorama section at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival where it had its world premiere on 17 February 2024.

Synopsis
In Dag Johan Haugerud’s film Sex, the story unfolds against the backdrop of modern urban Norway. Through clever wordplay, the film challenges conventional notions of masculinity and societal norms, regardless of whether the characters identify as heterosexual or homosexual.

Two chimney sweeps, both in monogamous, heterosexual marriages, find themselves in situations that challenge their perspectives on sexuality and gender norms. One of them has a sexual encounter with another man, yet doesn’t interpret it as an expression of homosexual desire or infidelity. Meanwhile, the other experiences vivid nocturnal dreams where he appears as a woman. This bewildering experience leads him to question how much external perception shapes his identity and whether he has suppressed aspects of himself, thus limiting his true self.

Cast

 * Jan Gunnar Røise as Chimney Sweeper
 * Thorbjørn Harr as CEO
 * Siri Forberg as Chimey Sweeper’s Wife
 * Birgitte Larsen as CEO’s Wife

Production
On 22 September 2022, Viaplay handed the making of a trilogy of films titled "Sex, Dreams and Love", to director Dag Johan Haugerud. Produced by Norway's Motlys and Viaplay, the trilogy was supported by the Norwegian Film Institute, the Nordisk Film & TV Fond, the Oslo Filmfond and Arthaus. Haugerud in an interview with Variety revealed that he was inspired by Krzysztof Kieślowski’s 1993-1994 Three Colours trilogy to take this project. He said, "The aim was to make three films that deal with the same topics from different perspectives." He elaborated, "They should look and feel very different, but give the impression that they are all part of the same conversation."

Release
Sex had its world premiere on 17 February 2024, as part of the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, in Panorama.

In January 2024, m-appeal world sales acquired the international sales rights of the film.

Reception
Savina Petkova reviewing the film at Berlinale for Cineuropa wrote, "the film is very much concerned with talking, and not at all about sexual acts themselves." Petkova concluded, "Sex acknowledges that all of our conventions are constantly in the process of being destroyed and reconfigured."

Reviewing the film for the International Cinephile Society, Matthew Joseph Jenner remarked that Sex is "an intelligent and complex film, and outside of a few brief, almost inconsequential moments in which we can feel the desire manifesting in these characters, it is a straightforward film that refuses to resort to shocking imagery or intentionally scintillating conversations to stir a reaction" and called it “one of the most bold and unflinching deconstructions of masculinity we have seen in years.”