Unmoored
The feature-length debut of director Caroline Ingvarsson, Unmoored stars Mirja Turestedt as Maria, a Swedish television presenter whose life is turned upside down when her husband Magnus (Thomas W Gabrielsson) faces serious sexual assault allegations. Maria stands by her husband, but the accusations take a serious toll on their relationship, a strain compounded by Magnus’s selfish treatment of her. A trip to Poland to visit a friend takes the couple to the breaking point, and in a bunker on a beach, something breaks.
The film is primarily a character study of Maria, following her emotional trajectory in the wake of the allegations against Magnus and her struggles to maintain a sense of self as her relationship deteriorates, and Turestedt does a fantastic job at depicting the complex range required by such a deep look into the piece’s leading lady. Maria carries a quiet, simmering fury throughout much of the story, silently grappling with the world she thought she knew and the new reality that has asserted itself, and Turestedt paints a multi-faceted picture perfectly with subtle micro-expressions, building up the narrative pressure to a grand crescendo.
Magnus also works well as a foil to Maria, full of boorish, obnoxious bluster as a counterpoint to her contemplative turmoil. At times, he can come off a bit cartoonishly awful, but Gabrielsson’s performance goes a long way in making Magnus feel more believable, more tangible as a threat – especially in the current socio-political environment. He might be over the top, but that’s because society lets men like him get away with acting like that, while paying no heed to the people they trample underfoot.
Unmoored is a great showcase of Ingvarsson’s skills as a director, with camera work and sound design that create a constant sense of tension and claustrophobia, effectively representing Magnus’s suffocating presence. This claustrophobia is contrasted against the wide, barren environments of Poland and, later, the English moors, enhancing the sense of isolation and making these locales characters in their own right, reflecting Maria’s internal conflicts and, in turn, imbuing her journey with their inherent gloominess.
Overall, Unmoored is a very strong first feature from Ingvarsson; atmospheric and gripping, bolstered by brilliant performances across the board. Structurally, its writing doesn’t quite come together, but that’s easy to forgive when the rest of the production is so compelling.
Umar Ali
Unmoored is released in select cinemas on 15th August 2025.
Watch the trailer for Unmoored here:
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