---
title: "Force Majeure"
year: 2014
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/force-majeure"
fi1m_id: "force-majeure"
imdb_id: "tt2121382"
tmdb_id: 265189
wikidata_id: "Q10706553"
fi1m_score: 84
critics_score: 79
critics_reviews: 14
published: "2026-09-15"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:37:44.289595+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Force Majeure (2014)

Directed by Ruben Östlund · 1h 59m · MPA R · Drama

## Identity

Force Majeure

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/force-majeure
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** force-majeure
- **IMDb ID:** tt2121382
- **TMDB ID:** 265189
- **Wikidata ID:** Q10706553
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2121382/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/265189, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q10706553

**Fi1m score: 84** · Critics 79 from 14 reviews

*In a sentence:* A skiing holiday is an expensive way to find out how fast your husband can run

> Ruben Östlund makes a father’s moment of panic into a painfully funny examination of marriage. *Force Majeure* is controlled, well acted and worth the discomfort, though the marital arguments go on longer than they need to.

## Synopsis

Tomas (Johannes Bah Kuhnke) and Ebba (Lisa Loven Kongsli) take their children, Vera (Clara Wettergren) and Harry (Vincent Wettergren), on a skiing holiday in the Alps. When an avalanche appears to threaten the family, Tomas runs, leaving Ebba with the children. The immediate danger passes, but the couple cannot agree on what happened or what his reaction means. As they continue their holiday, Ebba tries to make him acknowledge his behaviour, while Tomas struggles with a version of himself that does not fit the husband and father he believes he is.

## Review

*Force Majeure* is a painfully funny marital drama, and we recommend it with a small reservation about its persistence. Writer-director Ruben Östlund puts a family on a skiing holiday in the Alps, then gives the father a reason to panic. What interests him is how they can carry on together after seeing what he does. He is patient enough to make the explanation almost as uncomfortable as the incident.

The avalanche is filmed in a single shot, and Fredrik Wenzel’s cinematography makes that decision count: we have time to register the danger and the father’s response without a cut telling us where to look. Tomas flees, leaving Ebba and the children. We were appalled by his flight, then uncomfortable with how readily we judged him for an instinctive act. Östlund allows that doubt to persist, even as Tomas makes things worse by refusing to acknowledge what happened.

Johannes Bah Kuhnke is excellent as Tomas, particularly at making self-defence look like a reasonable contribution to a conversation. The performance lets us see how badly he needs Ebba to accept his account, without making that need an excuse. Lisa Loven Kongsli gives Ebba’s insistence enough hurt to keep her from becoming merely the person who has the facts right. The exchanges are funniest when both still seem to believe that choosing the correct words will make this an ordinary disagreement.

The holiday setting matters because it promises a break from precisely this sort of domestic work. Josefin Åsberg’s production design gives the surroundings a convincing air of comfort and order, making the couple’s loss of composure more conspicuous. Wenzel’s controlled framing gives their embarrassment time to become ours, while Ola Fløttum’s music offers little relief. The awkward exchanges are what we remember most clearly, and the film is right to give them so much space.

The supporting performances keep the film from feeling like a prolonged exercise for its two leads. Kristofer Hivju brings welcome comic assurance to Mats, while Clara Wettergren’s Vera and Vincent Wettergren’s Harry make the family’s distress harder to dismiss as adult foolishness. The children have to live with this disagreement, and they keep it from becoming an entertaining marital debate. That helps when the adults begin explaining themselves again.

Editors Jacob Secher Schulsinger and Östlund let the conversations run long enough for the audience to start wishing somebody would stop talking. That patience is essential to the comedy, but across 119 minutes it occasionally becomes repetition. Once we understand Tomas’s defensiveness and Ebba’s anger, another round does not always deepen either character. The screenplay can sound too neatly arranged to provoke a discussion, and the later stretches would benefit from the restraint that makes the avalanche so effective.

Black comedy can become tiring when it assumes that everyone on screen deserves whatever is coming to them. Östlund gets close to that here, but the actors keep the couple recognisable enough for the mockery to sting. We are allowed to find Tomas ridiculous without being certain we would have behaved any better. Watch it together, but agree beforehand that nobody has to answer hypothetical questions.

*Fi1m score 84, published 15 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics respond warmly to Force Majeure’s uncomfortable comedy about marriage, male pride and instinct under pressure. Praise centres on Östlund’s controlled direction, the precise framing of the avalanche scare and the awkward conversations that follow. The reviews repeatedly credit the performances with making the family’s distress convincing, even as their behaviour becomes painfully funny. For many, the film’s strength lies in letting a single panicked decision expose assumptions about protection, responsibility and gender roles.

Reservations concern repetition, length and how fully the characters develop beyond the questions they provoke. Several otherwise favourable reviews find the later stretches less assured. The spread runs from enthusiastic praise to mixed responses rather than outright rejection. Little White Lies admires the cinematography but finds the drama contrived and short on character depth; Eye for Film likewise praises the supporting cast while finding the central couple’s recurring tension irritating rather than revealing.

## Straight answers

**Is Force Majeure worth watching?**

*Force Majeure* is worth watching for anyone who can sit through two hours of a marriage being taken apart, and we scored it 84. Ruben Östlund turns a father's moment of panic into a painfully funny drama, superbly acted by Johannes Bah Kuhnke and Lisa Loven Kongsli. The arguments run longer than they need to, which is our only real reservation.

**How long is Force Majeure, and what is it rated?**

*Force Majeure* runs 1h 59m and is rated R by the MPA in the US. It is a drama film.

**Where can I watch Force Majeure in the US?**

*Force Majeure* is streaming on Amazon Prime Video, The Roku Channel and Tubi in the US, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from $2.99. It leaves Amazon Prime Video on 20 September. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is Force Majeure, and is it suitable for children?**

*Force Majeure* is a 15 certificate in the UK and is not violent or frightening in any conventional sense. The avalanche is a single tense shot and the real discomfort is watching a couple argue for the rest of the holiday. It is an adult drama about marriage, unsuitable for children and unlikely to hold teenagers, though nothing in it is graphic.

**How does Force Majeure compare to The Celebration?**

*Force Majeure* is the more controlled and drier of the two, while [*The Celebration*](https://film.one/film/the-celebration) is louder, angrier and more frightening. Both films watch a family lose its composure in a place that promised comfort, but Östlund keeps his camera still and lets the embarrassment stretch, where Vinterberg's restless camerawork chases the chaos. Choose Östlund for uncomfortable laughter, Vinterberg for a harder blow.

**What should I watch after Force Majeure?**

After *Force Majeure*, try [*The Celebration*](https://film.one/film/the-celebration) (1998, Fi1m 85): Family hospitality becomes an ordeal as the guests struggle to preserve appearances. Then [*A Separation*](https://film.one/film/a-separation) (2011, Fi1m 93): Competing accounts of a marriage demand attention without offering an easy judgement; and [*Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?*](https://film.one/film/whos-afraid-of-virginia-woolf) (1966, Fi1m 86): An evening of marital warfare, with guests who should have stayed home.

### Reviews we read (24)

- **Screen Daily** (90/100, inferred): A sardonic, serious, funny, precision-controlled psycho-comedy-drama that is the director’s best yet, with superb direction, visual unity, and ability to provoke laughs while exploring survival instincts. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/force-majeure/5072061.article)
- **The AV Club**, A.A. Dowd (A-): The review calls it a darkly comic study of imploding male ego and fragile masculinity, highlighting the black humor, strong performances (especially Kuhnke), and formal control while noting a minor fault in bypassing a perfect ending. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/force-majeure-is-a-darkly-comic-study-of-male-ego-in-co-1798181694)
- **Evening Standard**, Charlotte O'Sullivan (80/100, inferred): The critic calls it a gripping black comedy about a family skiing holiday disrupted by an avalanche that exposes cracks in relationships and masculinity. Östlund and the cast are praised for creating an odd, unsettling film that throws viewers off balance. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/force-majeure-film-review-ruben-ostlunds-black-comedy-will-rock-your-world-10167415.html)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the film compelling, intelligent and grimly entertaining despite some flaws and an overstretched length. The single-shot avalanche sequence early in the film and the subsequent psychological fallout on the family are singled out for their power and control. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/apr/12/force-majeure-film-review-ruben-ostlund-avalanche)
- **Time Out**, Joshua Rothkopf (4/5): The film is a remarkably confident and subtle comedy where a family’s domesticity unravels after the father abandons them during a perceived avalanche, turning into a study in deflated masculinity. Praises the way it builds through verbal takedowns. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/force-majeure)
- **Empire**, David Hughes (75/100, inferred): The review describes a devious Swedish drama about a father fleeing an avalanche, sparking questions about survival instinct, modern manhood and marriage. It is characterized as a brittle black comedy that leaves audiences with plenty to ponder. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/force-majeure-review/)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Boyd van Hoeij (75/100, inferred): The critic describes a sharply observed, confrontational film about the emotional fallout from a father's instinctive decision to save himself rather than his family during an avalanche scare. It is called solid and provocative overall, though the finale is noted as a minor misstep. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/force-majeure-turist-cannes-review-703556/)
- **Little White Lies**, Neil Young (4/3/3): The critic finds the film doesn’t quite reach its peak, being intermittently engaging but ultimately a hollow contrivance despite stylish execution. Praises the assured cinematography and handling of the milieu but complains it’s more concerned with sparking discussion than deep character development. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/force-majeure)
- **Film Comment**: The film centers on a Swedish family's ski holiday disrupted by an avalanche that exposes the father's cowardice, unraveling his marriage and self-image. Östlund uses a long, shocking single shot of the avalanche to launch a precise, unsettling examination of bourgeois masculinity and denial. [Read](https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/film-of-the-week-force-majeure/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan: Turan calls it a precise film about an out-of-control situation that raises provocative questions about gender stereotypes in marriage. He praises the director's control and the leads' verisimilitude. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-force-majeure-review-20141031-column.html)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Godfrey Cheshire: The critic praises the film's sharp examination of marital upset triggered by the father's actions during the avalanche, noting its forensic plotting and nuanced performances. He highlights how it stands back to let viewers draw conclusions about the characters' failings. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/force-majeure-2014)
- **Slant Magazine**: The critic praises Östlund’s grasp of imploding relationships, visual flair, and ability to mine cringe-inducing comedy from the material while examining gender roles and self-knowledge; the script is called somewhat stagy but the result triumphantly cinematic. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/force-majeure/)
- **The New York Times**, Stephen Holden: Holden describes it as a brilliant, viciously amusing takedown of bourgeois complacency and gender stereotypes that rubs the face in human frailty like a Haneke film. He notes the keen understanding of control over nature and human nature. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/24/movies/force-majeure-a-dark-swedish-comedy.html)
- **Variety**, Peter Debruge: Debruge sees it as Michael Haneke meets Scenes From a Marriage, with icy detachment that studies the consequences of the father's self-preservation instinct. He notes the visually stunning style and emotional perceptiveness. [Read](https://variety.com/2014/film/festivals/cannes-film-review-force-majeur-turist-1201184517/)
- **HeyUGuys**, Jon Lyus (5/5): The film is a scathing and acerbic comedy about contemporary couples, male pride and human instinct under pressure. It highlights strong performances, especially from Kristofer Hivju as the friend. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/cannes-2014-force-majeure-review/)
- **Collider**, Adam Chitwood (B+): The critic finds the film a delightful mix of humor and insight into family instincts during crisis, praising the balanced tone and strong performances. [Read](https://collider.com/force-majeure-review-ruben-ostlund/)
- **Consequence** (80/100, inferred): The review highlights the film's dark comedy and character study of a family unraveling after a panic-induced decision, commending the performances especially Lisa Loven Kongsli's. [Read](https://consequence.net/2014/11/film-review-force-majeure/)
- **The Skinny**, Josh Slater-Williams (4/5): A Swedish family on a ski holiday in the Alps sees their perfect facade crack after an avalanche incident reveals the father's instinctive cowardice. Östlund skewers gender roles with formal playfulness, raw emotion and tension akin to a horror film, creating discomfort and ambiguity. [Read](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/glasgow-film-festival-force-majeure)
- **The Wrap** (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the film bleakly funny and emotionally gutting, calling it a prickly date-night movie that puts its characters and audience through an emotional wringer. They single out the way the director mines the avalanche incident for awkward hilarity and its ongoing impact on family dynamics and masculinity. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/force-majeure-review-sweden-oscars-ruben-ostlund/)
- **Eye for Film**, Amber Wilkinson (50/100, inferred): The film offers strong visual interludes and excellent work from the child actors and supporting players like Kristofer Hivju, but the central couple's repetitive tension becomes irritating and lacks psychological depth. [Read](http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/force-majeure-2014-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson)
- **Digital Spy**, Emma Dibdin: A middle-class Swedish family on holiday in the Alps faces upheaval after the father flees an avalanche instead of protecting his family, exposing cracks in their relationship and gender roles. Östlund delivers a pitiless, insightful and brutally funny deconstruction of domestic fragility and masculinity. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a641045/force-majeure-review-a-gloriously-unsettling-domestic-drama/)
- **NME**: On a skiing holiday, a Swedish couple's dynamic shifts after the husband flees an apparent avalanche, leaving the wife to confront his cowardice and refusal to acknowledge it. Östlund's scathing psychological drama uses the chilly setting to heighten precise emotional revelations between the pair. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews-various-artists-16049-315793)
- **Paste**, Tim Grierson (8.0): Praises the provocative exploration of how a moment of panic reveals truths about marriage and perception, noting the ambiguity and strong acting. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/force-majeure)
- **The Playlist**, The Playlist Staff (A-/B+): The biting satire is brutally smart and original, with precise observations on bourgeois behavior in crisis, though it loses some focus in the later acts. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/cannes-review-ruben-ostlunds-sharp-icily-funny-force-majeure-20140527/)

## Details

- **Director:** Ruben Östlund
- **Director:** Ruben Östlund
- **Screenplay:** Ruben Östlund
- **Cinematography:** Fredrik Wenzel
- **Editor:** Ruben Östlund, Jacob Secher Schulsinger
- **Music:** Ola Fløttum
- **Production design:** Josefin Åsberg
- **Costume design:** Pia Aleborg
- **Producer:** Philippe Bober, Erik Hemmendorff, Marie Kjellson
- **Cast:** Johannes Bah Kuhnke as Tomas; Lisa Loven Kongsli as Ebba; Clara Wettergren as Vera; Vincent Wettergren as Harry; Kristofer Hivju as Mats; Fanni Metelius as Fanny; Karin Myrenberg Faber as Charlotte; Brady Corbet as The American
- **Runtime:** 1h 59m
- **Certificate (MPA):** R
- **Release (the US):** 24 October 2014
- **Genres:** Drama
- **Box office:** $4 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skQk2nVaAsI

## Where to watch in the US

- Amazon Prime Video: streaming, leaving 2026-09-20
- The Roku Channel: free, hd
- Tubi: free, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent $2.99, sd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $5.00, hd

*Checked 2026-09-15.*

Also available in: AT, FR, GB, IE, IT, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- European Film Award – People's Choice Award for Best European Film 2015: European Film Award – People's Choice Award for Best European Film (nominated)
- IFFR audience award 2015: IFFR audience award (nominated)
- International Submission to the Academy Awards 2015: International Submission to the Academy Awards (nominated)
- European Film Award for Best Director 2014: European Film Award for Best Director (nominated)
- European Film Award for Best Film 2014: European Film Award for Best Film (nominated)

## If you liked this

- *Scenes from a Marriage* (1973): Another couple discovers how much damage an apparently reasonable conversation can do.
- *The Loneliest Planet* (2011): For another holiday where physical danger exposes uncomfortable doubts about a relationship.
- *The Celebration* (1998), Fi1m 85: Family hospitality becomes an ordeal as the guests struggle to preserve appearances. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-celebration.md)
- *A Separation* (2011), Fi1m 93: Competing accounts of a marriage demand attention without offering an easy judgement. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-separation.md)
- *Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?* (1966), Fi1m 86: An evening of marital warfare, with guests who should have stayed home. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/whos-afraid-of-virginia-woolf.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/force-majeure