Movies: Copenhagen Does Not Exist (2023) by Martin Skovbjerg: A haunting study of isolation, obsession, and the fragility of love
- dailyentertainment95
- Oct 13
- 5 min read
A mystery where absence speaks louder than presence
Copenhagen Does Not Exist (2023) — originally titled København findes ikke — is a Nordic psychological drama directed by Martin Skovbjerg and written by Eskil Vogt, based on Terje Holtet Larsen’s novel. Starring Angela Bundalovic, Jonas Holst Schmidt, and Zlatko Buric, the film unfolds in the eerie stillness of Copenhagen, where Ida, a young woman, has vanished without explanation.
Her boyfriend Sander, overwhelmed by guilt and obsession, allows himself to be voluntarily locked up in an empty apartment. There, he is questioned by Ida’s father and brother, revealing fragments of their intense, reclusive relationship. As Sander recounts the past, truth and delusion blur—the boundaries between love, control, and disappearance dissolve.
Premiering at the Göteborg Film Festival, the film earned 3 awards and 8 nominations, praised for its striking cinematography, unsettling intimacy, and exploration of emotional isolation in urban life.
Why to Recommend: A hypnotic dive into psychological intimacy and detachment
A masterclass in atmospheric tension: Copenhagen Does Not Exist replaces traditional thriller beats with silence, repetition, and visual restraint. Every frame feels like a confession, forcing the audience to listen to what’s not said.Its slow rhythm mirrors the suffocating emotional codependence at the heart of Sander and Ida’s relationship, capturing how love can become a form of disappearance.
Emotional authenticity through discomfort: Martin Skovbjerg’s minimalist approach makes discomfort the language of truth. Viewers are not given closure—they are invited to sit inside the ache of loss, where obsession feels like devotion.The result is both unnerving and moving, evoking the psychological realism of Persona and The Worst Person in the World.
Where to watch: https://www.justwatch.com/es/pelicula/copenhagen-does-not-exist (Spain)
Link IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18072684/
Link Review: https://cineuropa.org/en/newsdetail/437893/
About movie: https://www.snowglobefilm.com/kobenhavn-findes-ikke/
What is the Trend Followed: Scandinavian minimalism and emotional nihilism
Copenhagen Does Not Exist embodies the modern Nordic existential cinema trend—emotionally restrained, psychologically invasive, and visually precise.
Scandinavian slow-drama revival: Following filmmakers like Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt, the film focuses on inner turbulence beneath quiet surfaces. It captures the emotional disconnection of modern life with chilling precision.
The aesthetics of isolation: The sparse urban setting and claustrophobic interiors reflect a global trend toward “psychological minimalism,” where emptiness becomes its own character.
Intimate psychological realism: The story avoids genre clichés, instead exploring obsession as a form of identity loss—how love can erase rather than complete the self.
The dialogue between love and disappearance: Similar to Blue Is the Warmest Colour or The Souvenir, the film examines relationships not as romance but as existential entanglement.
Formal austerity: The use of natural light, muted colors, and long static takes aligns with the current Scandinavian visual philosophy—beauty as distance, emotion as control.
Summary: The film belongs to the Nordic wave of psychological realism, where emotion is stripped bare and narrative serves introspection. It’s less about plot than about the feeling of losing someone before they’re gone.
Director’s Vision: Love as confinement
Martin Skovbjerg’s approach is poetic and cerebral: His vision is to expose the invisible boundaries of intimacy—where affection ends and possession begins.
Visual confinement as emotional metaphor: Every location feels like a prison of memory, reflecting Sander’s mind—he cannot escape his version of Ida.
Collaboration with Eskil Vogt: Known for his scripts (The Worst Person in the World, The Innocents), Vogt infuses the narrative with quiet dread and human fragility, transforming grief into philosophical inquiry.
A meditation on disappearance: Skovbjerg asks whether we ever truly know the people we love—or if our love is just a reflection of ourselves.
Themes: Memory, obsession, and the illusion of knowing
Disappearance as presence: Ida’s absence dominates every frame, her silence echoing louder than any dialogue.
Love and isolation: The film portrays intimacy as both salvation and suffocation—a duality that defines modern relationships.
Control and surrender: Through confinement and voluntary interrogation, it explores how guilt can turn into a form of self-punishment.
The limits of empathy: Even in deep love, there are spaces we cannot reach—truths that remain untold.
Identity and invisibility: The title itself becomes metaphorical—Copenhagen “does not exist” because for these characters, reality dissolves inside obsession.
Key Success Factors: Atmosphere, restraint, and emotional precision
Performances rooted in tension: Jonas Holst Schmidt delivers a hauntingly internalized portrayal of grief, while Angela Bundalovic’s ethereal presence makes Ida unforgettable even in her absence.
Stunning cinematography: The film’s visual language—cold, geometric, and distant—mirrors the psychological alienation of its characters.
Sound and silence: The minimalist sound design creates psychological unease, while the sparse score underscores emotional repression.
Narrative ambiguity: By avoiding answers, it invites interpretation—turning the audience into detectives of emotion rather than plot.
Awards & Nominations: Acclaimed for its precision and mood
Copenhagen Does Not Exist received 3 awards and 8 nominations at major European film festivals, including Göteborg and CPH PIX. Critics praised its cinematography, direction, and psychological depth, calling it one of the most distinctive Nordic dramas of 2023.
Critics Reception: Elegant, haunting, and emotionally disquieting
Cineuropa: “A love story told through the architecture of absence. Skovbjerg turns loneliness into an art form.”
Variety: “Bleak, magnetic, and beautifully acted—a study in emotional entropy.”
The Guardian: “A film that whispers its pain. Sparse, cerebral, and quietly devastating.”
Screen Daily: “Skovbjerg captures the paradox of intimacy—the closer we get, the more we vanish.”
Summary: Critics embraced Copenhagen Does Not Exist as a modern Nordic masterpiece of emotional stillness, where silence becomes the loudest scream.
Reviews: A divided audience, a lingering effect
Festival audiences: Admired its artistry, mood, and acting—praising it as “a poem of loss.”
General viewers: Some found it “cold” and “alienating,” proving how the film intentionally challenges emotional comfort.
Common sentiment: “It doesn’t tell you how to feel—it makes you sit in what you already are.”
Summary: For some, it’s a revelation; for others, a void. But no one leaves unaffected.
Movie Trend: Existential romantic minimalism
The film fits within the growing European existential romantic trend, where love stories are stripped of sentimentality and rebuilt through psychological realism—echoing works like The Eternal Daughter and Bergman Island. It reflects cinema’s movement toward exploring disconnection as the defining human condition.
Social Trend: The loneliness of the digital age
Copenhagen Does Not Exist mirrors a collective anxiety of modern life—how urban isolation, emotional detachment, and the illusion of connection erode the meaning of intimacy. Its portrayal of voluntary confinement feels eerily relevant in a post-pandemic world, where love and loneliness often share the same space.
Final Verdict: Bleak, beautiful, and unforgettable
Copenhagen Does Not Exist is a psychological elegy about love’s vanishing point, told through silence, confinement, and haunting memory. With Martin Skovbjerg’s disciplined direction and Eskil Vogt’s cerebral script, it transforms emptiness into poetry.Verdict: A bold, meditative Nordic drama—a film that doesn’t explain disappearance, it becomes it.
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