Slotting into the Panorama strand at the 75th Berlinale is Frelle Petersen’s commanding Home Sweet Home (Hjem kaere hjem), which a deeply intimate, personal perspective from within the home care system in small-town Denmark.
Petersen’s striking, though subtle new feature, following on from the likes of the acclaimed Uncle and Forever, follows Sofie (Jette Søndergaard), a recent divorcee who is balancing caring for the elderly in the community of her small town in rural Denmark and, at the same time, her ten-year-old daughter, Clara (Mimi Bræmer Dueholm), who she shares custody with her former husband, who has started a new relationship since their split.
Unflinching in its approach, Petersen’s camera follows Sofie as she attends each person’s home, one after the other, repeating the same journey every day. We see her intimate interactions with each client and their close relatives and the personal politics connected to each visit. There are the people you can tell she relishes visiting and caring for every day, and also those she’s a little more reserved about.
We also see Sofie attempting to balance life between her work and home life, and indeed that of her own personal wellbeing, and the struggles that come with a mother and father’s seperation and the strain that puts on a young child.
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It’s captivating stuff, resolute in its execution and beautiful in its imagery. Wonderfully framed by Jørgen Johansson (director of photography on the brilliant Gerard Butler film The Vanishing, as well as many other films), and having a stunning score by frequent Petersen collaborator Flemming Berg, Home Sweet Home has a lot in common with other Berlin debuter Late Shift, focussing on the European health care system as it struggles with the strain of the daily workload and the wonderful human beings stuck at the forefront of it. Søndergaard is superb, her performance largely relying on facial expression and what isn;t said, Sofie often standing quiet as she goes about her business washing her patients, cleaning kitchens, quietly cooking meals, emptying bins, and blanking out the constant clatter of over-anxious, heavily demanding relatives.
An engaging and unflinching piece from the off, Home Sweet Home is an early stand out in the Berlinale’s always-exciting Panorama field, a brilliantly told drama with a superb central performance by Søndergaard.
Home Sweet Home was reviewed at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival.
Home Sweet Home
Summary
A very intimate, involving and emotionally-charge portrayal of a mother/ daughter relationship set within the confines of the Danish homecare system.
