Queen at Sea

In this layered family drama, Amanda (a strong but subdued rol for Juliette Binoche) travels to London, where the mental health of her elderly mother, Leslie, is rapidly deteriorating. Due to advanced dementia, Leslie is difficult to read, she can no longer communicate or make decisions for herself. A shocking confrontation and a vast difference in opinion between Amanda and her stepfather, Martin, strains their relationship and drives an ever-widening wedge between them. After all, who has the right—Amanda, her stepfather, social services or a care institution—to decide Leslie’s fate now that she can no longer speak for herself? As both Amanda and Martin attempt to protect her based on their own love and convictions, the conflict over intimacy, mental capacity, and autonomy escalates. The heart-wrenching Queen at Sea demonstrates the way in which good intentions can lead to devastating outcomes. The film shows a very complex subject in an enormously empathic way; a moral dilemma that leaves a profound impression.

Queen at Sea premiered earlier this year in the main competition of the 76th Berlinale, where it received the Silver Bear Jury Prize. Tom Courtenay and Anna Calder-Marshall, who magnificently portray the elderly couple, jointly won the Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance. It is director Lance Hammer’s first film since his directorial debut, Ballast (2008), eighteen years ago.

During the Noordelijk Film Festival, this film will also be screened twice in collaboration with the Internationaal Filmfestival Assen (IFA): once with an introduction and once with an aftertalk with IFA head of programming Hil van der Wal and dr. Sarah Janus, senior researcher dementia care at the UMCG.