SYNOPSIS

Ten-year-old Helga hopes to reunite her fractured family. When her father—who left their island to begin a gender transition—returns, Helga sees a chance. But hope turns to tension as her mother, now a gender-critical feminist, rejects the transition, and her brother numbs himself with weed and trauma. As Helga struggles to gather the family, the earth begins to tremble—warning of a volcanic eruption that mirrors their emotional collapse.

INTENTION

I want to reflect on the Western world as it stands today through a tragicomic story of a family falling apart due to the clashing views of the parents. My generation in Iceland grew up as liberal thinkers in a capitalistic, market-driven society, not having to question what our previous generations had created. But the political landscape today shows that times are changing. Far-right populism and discontent are on the rise. The globalization that shaped the last decades is now collapsing, and as a woman who grew up in a “frictionless” society, I find it stifling how different ideals are now clashing so loudly.

Through Helga’s desire for reunification, I hope to show how difficult and emotionally draining it is to find both middle ground and one’s own space. I want the film to display the difficult intricacies of navigating these times.

I envision a strong use of color and composition that brings out the drama and the spectacular nature of the island, as well as close-ups that play with light and shadow. We will follow multi-layered characters and their wounds, desires, joys, and love — going through personal times of changes and how they deal with that, with a constant sign of danger underneath.