The Door

An implicit flaw in that of regret remedying as a coping mechanism for psychic pain — beyond time travel — is the loss of current memories that define and guide. Without the experience and knowledge of past errors, present identity remains perpetual, ceasing to exist as is. Further complicating autobiographical analysis of psychological scarring and the fantasy of change are notions of time as either a fluid entity or rigid constraint, thereby engaging theories of God's channel. If we could go back and do something over, the same mistake would occur without our current knowledge to correct it. But would said knowledge and change negatively alter the present? The Door removes these barriers from the narrative without undue analysis, creating a time travel vacuum within a fatalistic construct where present identity is maintained in past circumstances. After the death of daughter Leonie (Valerie Eisenbart) and the dissolution of his marriage to Maja (Jessica Schwarz), Max (Mads Mikkelsen) reaches a life low. In a presumably ironic nod to chaos theory, he follows a butterfly through a mysterious door to the day his daughter drowned. Max kills his younger self, confident that his consciousness, five years advanced, is superior and vastly more appreciative of the life he once took for granted. Unfortunately, an omniscient neighbour and a compounding series of minor errors ultimately threaten to expose this lie as metaphor for the uglier man he once was and desperately wants to negate. Such is his strangely complex character journey of self-loathing, guilt and sacrifice in relation to a traditional compounding thriller template that propels the surface narrative. What's interesting is that the many early seeming plot holes actually re-emerge later in the film as twist explanation, giving the viewer some credit and investment for detailed observation. While not as dramatically profound as intended — not quite packing that emotional punch when the music plays and past meets present through a lingering glance — this is quite an assured and impressive theological parable with fun Body Snatchers mythology. Alas, no supplements are included with the DVD, but haters of bad English dubbing can change the default setting to the original German audio track with subtitles in the setup menu.