Just last year, Justine Triet’s investigations into the power of subjectivity gripped audiences all the way to an Oscar win for Best Original Screenplay. Despite France opting to submit another of their country’s projects to the International Feature category, Anatomy of a Fall confounded those who encountered it with the burning question: Did she do it? Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel’s Armand (2024) immediately places us into a similarly murky situation, though one that bears an even closer resemblance in setting and style to Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt (2012). In this case, misconduct accusations line the halls of a primary school, and the pursuit of truth is an intricate, often unsettling process.
Tøndel’s film is an exercise in narrative control, blending the unreliable narration of Anatomy of a Fall with the weight of accusation in The Hunt and the sharp wit of a teacher’s self-initiated investigation, akin to 2023’s The Teachers’ Lounge. However, while these influences are evident, Armand is not content with simply tracing their outlines. Instead, the film gradually slides into something else entirely–an abstract allegory about jealousy, desire, and the ever-shifting terrain of cancel culture.
The film’s central narrative hinges on an accusation involving the titular Armand, our protagonist’s 6-year-old son who we never see on screen, and one of his classmates who has offscreen reported him for sexual assault. We primarily follow the conversation between the respective parents, the school teacher, and the administrator tasked with sorting the situation out.
Tøndel deliberately withholds direct visual confirmation of the alleged event. This storytelling device mirrors Triet’s approach in Anatomy of a Fall, acknowledging that absolute certainty remains elusive. By denying the audience a clear, objective depiction of what transpired, Armand forces us into the role of judge and jury, internally forced to weigh our perception of the characters based on limited experience with their background, personality, and moral compass.
The dialogue between the parents and school representatives is instrumental in sustaining this tension, and the most engaging material in the script before it veers into abstract, interpretative allegories. Renate Reinvse is magnetic in her native Norwegian, offering a glimpse into the headspace of those protecting the accused, and debating against the acceptance of accusation of truth. As new layers of information slowly surface, the social and institutional dynamics surrounding the accusation come into sharper focus, revealing the precarious balance between personal accountability and collective judgment. Tøndel’s measured pacing is a deliberate showcase for how power functions when faced with the perceiving truth and delivering consequences.
At its core, Armand questions the mechanisms of judgment in contemporary society, particularly within spaces that ostensibly exist to nurture and educate. Where The Hunt ultimately pivots towards the emotional devastation of a man falsely accused, and The Teacher’s Lounge explores the ripple effects of institutional authority, Armand remains fixated on how people perceive the accused and why. The film examines how truth is constructed rather than uncovered, and how personal biases shape the narratives we choose to believe.
While Armand may not provide the visceral courtroom theatrics of Anatomy of a Fall and is not quite as interested in the question of guilt, it offers something arguably more disquieting: an acknowledgment of the limits of what we can ever truly know and a reflection of a world in which perception is reality. In an era defined by the ever-present spectacle of social scrutiny, Tøndel’s film feels like an invitation to reflect on the fragile foundations upon which our judgments are built.
Review Courtesy of Danny Jarabek
Feature Image Credit to IFC