This is the film I wanted to see when I saw Greengrass's July 22.
If you want to make a movie about a mass shooting, and you want the audience to feel what it's like to strive to survive, you film it in one single take and you film it in real time. Basically, you film it exactly like Utøya: July 22.
U July 22 follows one young woman from the start through to the end of the mass shooting that took place on July 22, 2011 in Oslo, Norway, at a youth summer camp on the island of Utøya. The technical expertise required to make the entire film in one take and in real time boggles the mind, but creates a sense of immediacy that pulls the viewer into the story and traps them there.
The film's weaknesses (a couple of scenes feel like filler and others fall into cliché) do little to reduce the overall impact of U July 22, especially when the director (Erik Poppe) chooses to film in Norwegian and to never reference the shooter by name. Utøya is one of the most unique, powerful and authentic films you will see this year.
