En helt almindelig familie (2020)

The story takes place around the turn of the millennium. Emma and Caroline are the growing-up children of Thomas and Helle. The family leads a quiet life in a Danish suburb, in their own house. At the beginning of the film, and regularly in between, excerpts from homemade amateur video recordings are shown, featuring the children when they were little. Fourteen-year-old Emma now plays football for a local club and is often accompanied by her father. Her older sister Caroline is about to be confirmed. Unexpectedly, and without any apparent warning signs in the film, Helle tells her astonished children over breakfast that she and Thomas are getting divorced. After a few tense seconds, the reason is also revealed: Thomas wants to live as a woman from now on and has already been undergoing gender-affirming treatment for some time. After her initial surprise, Caroline deals with her father’s change with remarkable composure and positivity, while younger Emma wants nothing to do with it and refuses to accept it. During a mediation session with a psychologist, she goes so far as to tie a scarf over her eyes so she will not have to see her father dressed as a woman. Only when he/she promises that they will always remain her father does she take off the scarf. Even so, Emma approaches the new situation only hesitantly—especially because, during a holiday in Mallorca, Agnete, her father’s new name, is regarded as the children’s mother, and Agnete does not correct this, much to Emma’s annoyance. Later, when classmates mock Emma about her father, she drinks herself unconscious from a bottle of vodka being passed around. This distress and sense of estrangement from the new situation therefore run through the entire film. There are lighter moments during a holiday in Mallorca and at Caroline’s confirmation celebration, where Agnete is a sparkling host. At the celebration, Agnete’s father still struggles with the pronouns in his speech; when Agnete points this out and throws him off his stride, he quickly brings the speech to an end. When Agnete tells the children about a new job and a move to London, Emma only then realizes what she is losing in her father, even as he now lives as a woman. The promise that they will always be able to visit Agnete during the holidays barely comforts either her or Caroline. The film ends with colorful images of a holiday the family spends together in London.