For the first quarter-hour, the viewer is introduced to a Scandinavian named Mads Lake played by Gustav Skarsgård. Bearded, older, shy, and always wearing a Rukka’s outdoor coat vest, Lake moves on from life in a Psychotic hospital. He spends time trying and not succeeding to secure an apartment, gets mugged at knifepoint, and shifts to reconnecting with his older brother. Just as sympathy aligns with the viewers feeling for the character, we meet his therapist played by Andrea Riseborough who goes on to ask What’s this about the nine boys you’ve molested? It is at that point where everything changes, in short: “What Remains” transforms what feels like a cold psychodrama into something from the twisted mind of a pedophile. Some of Lake’s actions make sense when you realize he is the survivor of sexual abuse, having been sexually abused by his father starting when he was an infant toddler. As he learns about the unsolved case of a missing 6-year-old boy, he wonders if instead of abusing children, he go to some much darker places.
In addition to appearing as though they’ve got some seasonal eczema, most of the characters are deeply lost and broken individuals. The aforementioned therapist has her own daddy issues and is desperate to get pregnant to the point of hooking up with a random guy in a parked car late at night in an attempt to get herself knocked up essentially. That’s Riseborough, the pale-faced chameleon, in her dead inside role, willing to be someone who um, wants a baby to put inside her. There is also Soren Rank (Stellan Skarsgård, as gruff as always) a detective who has been given the case and who’s also a recovering alcohol abuser trying to mend familial bonds with his ex-wife and daughter.
Indeed “What Remains” is a family drama of sorts. We not only have two generations of Skarsgårds acting together, battling their demons as civilly as they can (they do a great job capturing the essence of two men silently tormented by their past wrongs), but the film is also co-written by Megan Everett-Skarsgård, Stellan’s wife and Gustaf’s mother. Collaborating artist/writer/director Ran Huang brought the family together for this incredibly dark excursion based on the life of Sture Bergwall, a mentally unstable Swedish man who infamously claimed to have committed 30 murders which he did not actually commit.
In his debut feature, Ran depicts a world that is harsh and ruthless. The three protagonists reluctantly form a crime unit, with Rudebeck & Rank trying to get Lake’s recollection of murders that may or may not have occurred. Ultimately, this trio experiences more suffering than resolution. As he does with the introduction of Lake, Ran takes time to develop the story, marking the 126-minute film as snow-capped trauma and tedium. It’s a serial killer tale that seemingly takes joy in not providing a conclusive ending. Imagine “Zodiac,” without David Fincher’s captivating, stylized attention to detail. Important details are either quietly spoken or omitted entirely. You will need to connect some dots, particularly when it builds up to a climax that is violent, perplexing, and, as usual with these types of films, very sad.
It’s as though all of “What Remains” stakeholders set out to construct a murder mystery that was drenched in the worst kind of misery the end result has me scratching my head at how somber this entire thing is. No, less, the name of the film itself acts as a haunting question as to where the lost children are and what is left of the mind and figure that had a part in their vanishing. Trust me it isn’t shocking if you find compassion for Lake, a man who has come to a point where he would rather be left in silence to prepare for the dysfunctional beast he has always known himself to be.
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