Atli (Steinþórsson) is having a rough go of it lately, all based on his own actions and decisions. After a rough start to the film, he is on the outs with his wife Agnes (Jónsdóttir) and things aren’t looking so hot for him. As he continues to make things worse for himself, he eventually moves in with his parents Inga (Björgvinsdóttir) and Baldvin (Sigurjónsson). They appear to be a sweet couple who live in a nice home with a cat. Appearances can be deceiving.
Next door to this family lives another couple, Konrad (Bachmann) and Eybjorg (Björnsdóttir). They are a touch younger, and own a dog. All seems mostly well in this quiet neighborhood block. Appearances can be deceiving.
As Konrad and Eybjorg ask Inga and Baldvin to potentially trim their large tree on their lot, as it blocks their backyard deck from getting sunshine, some animosity is formed. Inga seems fully unwilling to consider this ask and resents the couple for asking, as well as the dogshit that winds up in their yard sometimes. A neighborly beef continues to grow. Meanwhile Alti makes things worse and worse for himself as he continues to antagonize his wife with attempts to win her back, compounding his issues.
Under the Tree is a dark road traveled for all involved. It is a mostly serious drama and leads to climactic events and non-stop escalations and retaliations. I have heard this movie described as a comedy or dark comedy, but yeeesh, I guess maybe it is a pitch-black comedy because mostly it is a drama and dark thriller about neighbors being pretty awful to each other.
The acting is superb, especially by Edda Björgvinsdóttir who shows quite an ability to display a cold-hearted character. The script can give plenty to think about, and it shows how miserable things can be when retribution is the only path taken. In addition to social commentary within, plenty of viewers found humor as well, but I only got a bit of a chuckle from the ending scene myself. That being said, this was still a well-done feature.
