Released from prison after serving an eight-year sentence for the murder of a young child, Thomas returns to Oslo to arrange the scattered pieces of his life and pursue a quiet redemption. He finds employment as a church organist, settles into a small apartment and even manages an awkward but genuine courtship of Anna, the church pastor. Honest about his religious faith, Thomas is nonetheless affected by the music he plays, letting the hymns wash over him with an effect at once caustic and purifying. The tension mounts when a schoolteacher recognizes the organist as the convicted murderer of her child. Director Erik Poppe skillfully combines two strong stories about people who try to come to terms with the past, and explores the possibilities for forgiveness and atonement in a world colored by cruel chance and irreparable acts. (2008, 115 min., in Norwegian w/ English subtitles).
