Documentary Review: Klub Kranium/Dark Blossom by Hedvig Funeral

Klub Kranium/Dark Blossom is a danish debut documentary film by Frigge Fri.

The documentary portrays three young people, Josephine, Mareridt, and Jay from Denmark who find friendship through their shared alternative lifestyle and the struggles that friendship brings through balancing love, friendship, and religion. The documentary follows Josephine who doesn't feel she belongs in any “normal” social gathering and the people surrounding her in her very small hometown of Fjerritslev, in northern Denmark/Jutland. 

The start of the documentary is somewhat loud as a promising beginning but as the film moves forward it becomes duller with not many conversations between the protagonists and oozes out by a lot of small clips and mobile phone clips that doesn't fill the screen and leaves a “debut” feel to it. 

As a viewer one might feel that a lot of the original content and far more exciting scenes and happenings are cut out and the experience of the viewer feels like... that too much is left out. That could have filled the empty spaces between no conversations and small clips.

Although as a viewer, I find the story of Josephine really good and shows how a young person struggles with the balance in the fight between friendship and her love life. I feel a disconnect between the title, the content, and the subculture as I also feel the documentary took a “wrong turn” or chose another path later on and the meaning behind it was another, to begin with, and it really shows in the storyline and clips that could just as well have left out the Alternative Subculture theme or lifestyle and followed three everyday people in Denmark.

Director: Frigge Fri

Producer: Mathilde Hviid Lippmann

Film duration: 1 hour and 20 min

Release date: 24th of April, 2021

Language: Danish/English subtitles

Two out of five coffins from me 

Official website :

https://cphdox.dk/da/film/dark-blossom-da/