Queen of Hearts

Queen of Hearts (, The Queen) is a 2019 Danish drama film directed by May el-Toukhy, and starring Trine Dyrholm and Gustav Lindh. The Danish and English film titles obliquely refer to the Queen of Hearts character in the children's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland which is mentioned repeatedly in the film. The film was selected as the Danish entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. The film won the 2019 Nordic Council Film Prize. Plot Anne is a lawyer shown working on three cases of rape and violent abuse of young women. She is married to a physician, Peter, and they have two young twin daughters, Frida and Fanny. Peter's teenage son from his past marriage is Gustav, who lives in Sweden with his mother Rebecca. The family plans for Gustav to move in with Anne and Peter. Gustav arrives and Anne cannot refrain from flirting with him. Gustav begins to conflict with Peter, pushing for the right to move out on his own despite being a minor. One day, Anne returns home to find there has been a burglary. The incident is reported to the police, but afterwards Anne finds an item in Gustav's laundry that was in her bag, stolen during the break-in. She realizes that he was responsible for the robbery and confronts Gustav with the evidence. However, Anne promises to keep the matter a secret if Gustav does his part in the household. From then on Gustav cheerfully joins in the social life of the family, for instance reading the Danish version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland aloud for the young twin girls, which Anne herself also does. (The film title alludes obliquely to the Queen character in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.) Time passes and one night, Gustav brings his girlfriend Amanda home. Anne hears the couple having sex and is aroused. Peter and Anne entertain guests on their balcony, but Anne leaves the group to take Gustav to a bar. There, she kisses him. Later at night, she enters his bedroom and seduces him by initiating sex. The two begin a sexual relationship; Gustav interviews Anne with a tape recorder, asking her various questions including about her first sexual relationship. Anne says it was with someone she should not have had sex with - like we have? asks Gustav, but she does not want to talk about it. The family celebrates Frida and Fanny's birthday. When Anne and Gustav step away, Gustav kisses her.