I can’t say for certain whether Danish helmer Henrik Ruben Genz is a fan of David Lynch, but judging by Genz’s neat little thriller “Terribly Happy,” I’d say he’s seen “Blue Velvet” more than once.
“Terribly Happy” concerns Robert Hanson (Jakob Cedergren), a good-looking Copenhagen cop who’s transferred to a hick town after some problems in the big city.
He doesn’t want to be there, and the locals don’t want him around, either. “We like to handle things our way,” one explains.
Hanson has more than his share of skeletons in the closet, as do the people of the dreary village in which he finds himself. One is the bog outside of town where cars and people seem to end up. (Remember the bog at the end of “Psycho”?)
And what a bunch of weirdos the locals are, whether playing cards, boozing it up or slapping around the kid who gets caught shoplifting.
Leading the pack is Ingerlise (Lene Maria Christensen), a blond femme fatale who says her cowboy-hatted husband beats her. But she doesn’t want to file a complaint and always goes back to the brute.
In true noir fashion, Ingerlise finds the new man in town attractive, and wastes no time coming on to him. He resists, but not for long.
Genz seems to delight in keeping viewers off guard. Nothing is as it seems at first, and nothing ever plays out the way you expect.
The actors are charmingly low-key, and the lensing, by Jorgen Johansson, adds to the offbeat aura. Whatever you do, don’t miss the booze-guzzling showdown.