’Superposition’ – taking its name from the quantum theory of something existing in multiple states at the same time, is the debut feature film from Danish director Karoline Lyngbye. Set in the deep dark forests of Sweden, this eerie and troubling genre piece is an accomplished first film, exploring interesting real-world problems within a scary and fantastical premise.
The film follows young Danish couple Stine (Marie Bach Hansen) and Teit (Mikel Boe Folsgaard) who are uprooting their metropolitan lives in Copenhagen to live in the wilderness for a year with their young son Nemo. Their idea is to unplug from modern society and therefore give themselves the freedom to fulfil their creative potential. Stine wants to finish a novel that she’s been working on for a decade, and Teit—being a white dude in his 30s—is going to record a podcast about the whole adventure.
Of course, they aren’t really unplugging from society at all. When they get to their lodge, it is a stunning modern retreat in the middle of the woods, fully stocked with food and wine. They aren’t exactly having to hunt and forage for their dinner, which is a good thing as Stine comments upon seeing Teit with a rifle that he looks “like a nun holding a sailor’s dick.”
The first act of the film is very much a slow burn. Stine makes some progress on her novel, but is constantly distracted by Nemo. Teit wants the podcast to be as honest and authentic as possible, but this brings into question something from their recent past that they are running away from. Even in this romantic seclusion, attempts at intimacy stutter and stall.
Things very much change gear when Nemo briefly goes missing in the woods. Upon finding him, he is frantic, and keeps screaming that Stine is not his mother. A few days of this behaviour are too traumatic for them all, and so they decide to return to Copenhagen. Only they can’t get away. Their attempts to escape the woods only lead them to another lodge, identical to the one they have been staying in, and with two identical occupants called Stine and Teit. To say anymore would spoil all the Freudian fun.
Technically, the film is a triumph. The juxtaposition of the stunning natural scenery with the cool modern interiors is captured expertly by cinematographer Sine Vadstrup Brooker. The use of reflection and mirror images is very on the nose from a thematic point of view, but it adds to the visual style, and also leads to the film’s most startling moment. The slick camera work is accompanied with clever editing, subtle VFX, and flawless double work to achieve the remarkable doppelgänger scenes.
Despite a premise which lends itself to horror (in the vein of Jordan Peele’s ‘Us’), Lyngbye prefers to drill into the psychoanalysis of the situation. Once the initial shock wears off, the two couples must literally confront each other, themselves, their relationships, and all the compromises and betrayals. Maybe it is a horror after all. Unless you are fully invested in these not very likeable characters, it does all get a bit much towards the end. The excellent performances from Hansen and Folsgaard however, keep it engaging.
