** IF POSSIBLE THERE ARE SPOILERS HERE **

Hanna has lived for four years alone with her kids since her husband went abroad to join a crusade (or something like it). Now, a messenger brings the news that her husband is coming home and she leaves her village to go to the harbor to greet him. But danger lurks everywhere, the plague has come to the land. Hanna meets a lot of characters along her journey (which seems to go on forever without getting anywhere). She meets Joel, who has lost his family to the plague and a she meets a girl, abused as sacrifice by a corrupted priest. She meets the imprisoned Torben and the abandoned Emma, whose husband has closed the city gates and refuses to let anyone in. Finally she finds her husband Ulf, but the once powerful and happy man is now an addict to some foreign substance, barely able to speak. Hanna feels that her husband has betrayed her and leaves him, just to come back a few days later to pick him up again. Then the girl get struck by the plague and everything seems to go wrong at once...

A movie with lot of known and good Swedish actors, but many has small roles. This is a road movie, set in medieval times, without any roads. The main character goes around thinking, contemplating and meeting different characters. There are many long shots of riding and few with any real action. The plot becomes very slow and dull. When Hanna actually meets anyone, it seems like all suspense and emotions that lack from other parts must be said in just one sentence. This gives greeting sentences with threats of rape and murder as the norm which seems very uncharacteristic. The dialog which could bring the plot forward instead seem odd and stupid. In addition, Hanna seems inconsistent with herself and her own motives. The only good things are that Lena Endre seem to try to do her best with the material she haves, and that the scenery and outfits are good. However, a real dull experience.

3/10