EIFF 2014: Home (Hemma)

Coffee is the beverage of choice in Maximilian Hult’s sweet but never treacly directorial debut, and with a name like Home, it’s not difficult to understand why – although perhaps if it were set in Scotland instead of Iceland, tea might have conjured up similar themes of the warmth and solace found in re-forged and newfound familial connections.

After the unexpected death of her grandfather (her controlling mother told her he had actually died 20 years previous), socially awkward Lou travels to visit her grandmother, Frida, in her tiny picturesque village and quickly catches the eye of local dashing-yet-bookish bachelor Henrik. Frida, reeling internally over the death of her husband, finds comfort in the friendship of a boy named Tom, who can’t seem to get anything right. At first Home seems gentle and unassuming to a fault, but as characters and relationships begin to gel, it becomes a subtly quirky, bittersweet meditation on life and love, as satisfying and smile-inducing as your favourite cuppa, with just a little bit of sugar.