''Enforcement'' () is a 2020 Danish

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

directed by Frederik Louis Hviid and Anders Ølholm in their feature directorial debut. The film premiered at the

77th Venice International Film Festival The 77th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 2 to 12 September 2020, albeit in a "more restrained format" due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Australian actress Cate Blanchett was appointed as the President of the Jury. '' The Ties ...

in the 35th International Critics' Week on 5 September 2020, and it is about two

patrol officer A patrol is commonly a group of personnel, such as law enforcement officers, military personnel, or security personnel, that are assigned to monitor or secure a specific geographic area. Etymology From French ''patrouiller'', from Old Fren ...

s who find themselves trapped when unrest spreads after news arrives that a young foreigner of the ghetto has died while in police custody.

Plot

Jens Høyer (

Simon Sears Simon Sears (born 25 January 1984) is a Danish actor. Early life and education Sears was born in Roskilde to an Italian father and Danish mother. He was raised in the town of Solrød Strand, and has two older siblings. When he was younger, Sear ...

) and Mike Andersen () are officer on routine patrol in the ghetto of Svalegården, a fictional neighborhood of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. The mood among the foreign population is heated because an arrested Senegalese, 19-year-old Talib Ben Hassi, was seriously injured in police custody and is in danger of life. Subsequently, when the death of the young Talib is made known, the two agents, engaged in a search, are attacked and their car is set on fire. Jens and Mike will then have to survive the ghetto people's desire for revenge.

Production

''Shorta'' is an

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

word for police.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the

in the 35th International Critics' Week on 5 September 2020. It had a Danish theatrical release on 8 October 2020. It had a

limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

in North America by

Magnolia Pictures Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor. It is a subsidiary of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment. Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films. Mag ...

and was released on VOD by

Magnet Releasing Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor. It is a subsidiary of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment. Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films. Mag ...

on 19 March 2021. It was internationally released on 4 June 2021.

Reception

Box office

''Enforcement'' grossed $0 in North America, and a worldwide total of $53,189.

Critical response

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 83% based on 29 reviews, with an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

rating of 6.5/10. The website's consensus reads, "What ''Enforcement'' lacks in character development, this propulsive action thriller makes up with a smart script and relentless tension."

Joe Morgenstern Joe Morgenstern (born October 3, 1932) is an American writer and retired film critic. He wrote for ''Newsweek'' from 1965 to 1983, and then for ''The Wall Street Journal'' from 1995 to 2022. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 2005. Morgen ...

found the physical action "more compelling than the superheated plot". ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' Peter Debruge praised the film as "gripping" and a "smart, nonstop thriller". Simon Abrams rated the film one and a half stars out of five in his review for '' RogerEbert.com''.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Enforcement (film) 2020 films Films about police officers Films about police misconduct Films about race and ethnicity Danish crime action films 2020 crime action films 2020s Danish-language films 2020 directorial debut films