The Middle Man

« Working from Lars Saabye Christensen’s novel Sluk, Norwegian writer-director Bent Hamer leads us through Frank’s story with an off-kilter absurdity and bone-dry hilarity. »
The Film Stage

Synopsis

The God-forsaken town of Karmack, USA, is experiencing an epidemic of accidents and deaths. “The Commission” -the Sheriff, the Doctor and the Pastor- who run the town, decide to hire a ‘Middle Man’ whose sole responsibility will be to inform the family when an unfortunate incident occurs. Frank Farrelli is a quiet, thoughtful man who proves perfect for the job. He takes his new role on with gusto and quickly becomes the town’s beacon of bad news. But the pressures of the job and a budding new romance overwhelm Frank. To ease his burden, he calls in a ‘favour’ that ends up in a horrifying yet oddly amusing murder.

Festivals & Awards

  • 46th Toronto International Film Festival: Special Presentations, 2021
  • 27th Geneva International Film Festival: Highlights, 2021

Director

Filmography

  • 2021 The Middle Man
  • 2014 1001 Grams
  • 2010 Home for Christmas
  • 2007 O’Horten
  • 2005 Factotum
  • 2003 Kitchen Stories
  • 1998 Water Easy Reach
  • 1995 Eggs

Cast

Pål Sverre Hagen, Tuva Novotny, Paul Gross, Nina Andresen Borud, Don McKellar, Rossif Sutherland, Nicolas Bro, Kenneth Welsh, Trond Fausa Aurvåg, Aksel Hennie, Sheila McCarthy

Crew

Script: Bent Hamer
Cinematography: John Christian Rosenlund
Sound: Steven Munro
Music: Jonathan Goldsmith
Editing: Anders Refn
Production: BulBul Film (NO), The Film Farm (CA), Pandora Film (DE), Profile Pictures (DK), Bord Cadre films (CH), Sovereign Film (UK)

Technical Data

Format: DCP / colour / 5.1
Runtime: 95′
Released: 2021
Language: English
Subtitles: French, German, Danish, Norwegian