Louder than Bombs

LOUDER THAN BOMBS is the English-language debut of celebrated Norwegian director Joachim Trier (REPRISE; OSLO, AUGUST 31ST), who continues his tradition of rich, multilayered narratives in this moving portrait of a fractured family. Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Gabriel Byrne and Isabelle Huppert and produced by Oscar® nominated producers Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa (NEBRASKA, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, COLD MOUNTAIN), the film premiered in competition at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and also screened at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.

Two years after her death in a car crash, the husband and sons of famed photographer Isabelle Reed (Huppert) are still trying to cope with their loss. Gene (Byrne) struggles as a single parent, but is taking his first exultant steps towards a new relationship. Jonah (Eisenberg), the elder son, has just had a baby of his own and finds the transition from child to parent more than a little daunting. The younger son, Conrad (newcomer Devin Druid), is a typical teenager, wearing his alienation as a badge of honor and resisting his father’s every attempt to connect. On the occasion of a major retrospective of Isabelle’s work, Jonah returns home to help his father organize her effects. Once again under the same roof, all three men are flooded with memories, and secrets are unearthed—most notably the truth behind the mysterious circumstances of Isabelle’s death. Shifting between past and present, and juxtaposing external reality with privileged glimpses into the interior lives of each of its four major characters, LOUDER THAN BOMBS is a stunningly intimate portrait of parents and children and the many things that tear them apart and bring them together.

“Asks audiences to bring their brains, eschewing grand catharsis in favor of subtle psychological nuance…[Trier is] constantly bending the rules and toying with such elements as narrative continuity, structure and form in bold but always elegant ways.” – Peter Debruge, Variety

“Sensitive and complicated...The kind of multi-faceted, ambitious, incompletely resolved American drama that American filmmakers never seem to get around to making…This is a film of superb performances, mysteries, and moments of earthy poeticism.” – Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, The A.V. Club