Worth the watch, though what I make an objection about is that the film says "based on actual events" but then at the very end you find out it's actually a collection of events that happened at orphanages in Denmark and so the veracity of the experiences of those two brothers loses its credibility. It borders on being corny in the standard narrative of overcoming adversity.

This is an excellent movie. You hold back tears and your humanity is tested as you watch these children in the most horrifying situations as the adults around them fail them at every single turn. The filmmaker seems to capture our souls as the vignettes build. Still you can't help but feel a sense of Oliver Twist with a modern day Lord of the Flies as you watch the movie. You see this socialist state more or less abandon these children well into the 1970's. In this story we focus on two boys but the fact is that many, many more were abused. I'm not spoiling anything for the viewer because you will not believe the horrors visited upon these children. But yet you're drawn to it, drawn because you wonder whether or not there's a silver lining. This is a fictional story. The bad guys are in fact an amalgam - there is no one-to-one between the story-line and the actual events. But imagine the worst acts that could take place in an adult prison - they're worse at this place. And imagine bad luck and then multiply it by 100 as these two little boys go from bad to worse. But the outrage really comes when you realize that even "bad" boys will band together once they recognize that they themselves aren't the problem but the adults and the system they face. Children in this day and age were told they were bad. Told they were evil. Thousands of years of upbringing informed the modern day practices in this incredible montage. Yet even when our heroes leave the isolation of this children's community the world outside isn't much better.I wish dear reader that I could tell you that something turned out well. It didn't. The horrors visited upon these children - and they would range in age now from about 40 to about 70 or 80 - is pretty horrendous. The level of proof demanded by Sweden's socialist government created a bar so high that definitely no child could meet it. Few adults could. And today - still today - the government of Sweden has not acknowledged what happened in these children's homes - and I'm quite certain this was not unique. Similar to the Catholic church the government of Sweden will not admit there was any wrong doing and did not punish the perpetrators. And the perps by the way were every bit as bad as the priest of the Catholic church. Watch this movie even if you feel your gut has been punched by the strongest bully possible and then act. Post. Get involved. Because society cannot abandon the least among us. And when we do - heaven help us the hell that will be visited on our societies.

Of course, like in Dickens' novel Oliver Twist, the circumstances in such institutions are horrible and deplorable. No one seems to care as long as no complaints are registered and nothing of the abuse and slavery comes out in the open. The story in this movie is different, however, due to demonstrating that not only management and teaching staff have their faults, but also the boys themselves maintain some sort of hierarchy. For example, we see "lower" boys tasked with e.g. collecting cigarette-ends and being bullied when set targets are not met. As such we see a self-contained ecosystem, where survival of the fittest is the norm, alongside with evading visibility (playing "ghosts") and not attracting attention. Painful scenes are intermixed with moving moments, as could be expected.The developments take their time, but that does not mean that the whole movie is boring in any way. Each time you think that you can predict the outcome, you are proved wrong. That is why this drama needs its nearly 2 hours running time to develop in full, and to explore all sides of the problem. Contrary to every description I've read about head master Heck, as being sadistic, the impression left behind is that he means well, in spite of his harsh methods. In other words, removing all sharp edges of inherently uncontrollable boys, is his way to harden and prepare them for the outside world. All of this is best illustrated by him asking, begging nearly, after having signed the dearly -wanted letter that confirms the boy is discharged, whether he (the boy) is prepared to speak out that the school has done him a lot of good, after all.All in all, casting of main protagonists is perfect and all of them perform very well. A special mention is needed for the two boys who carry the story from start to finish. We also see how difficult it is to interest TPTB for the problems at the orphanage. Interesting and unexpected developments succeed in keeping the viewer interested all along.

(This review may contain spoilers): this was an emotionally charged and intense movie about two brothers - Erik and Elmer - who are sent to an orphanage when their widowed mother falls sick and is rendered, by the state, incapable of caring for them. The cruelty of abandonment is heightened by the brutality of the merciless Headmaster and his assistants and attendants, who see the boys in their care as rabid, uncontrollable and in need of strict discipline and a professional craft. Creativity, ambition and dreams are not rewarded; rather, they are ridiculed. The brothers, along with other in-mates, form a bond of sympathetic but mute camaraderie that sets them apart from their abusers. They are able to retain a hint of sympathy for each other, despite being unable to stand up for each other out of fear of violent retribution. They maintain a code of conduct whereby they exist as "ghosts" in order to survive their ordeal. The viewer, however, is made aware of another group of boys, some older, who grew hostile and aggressive, and whose ability to sympathise dissolves in the anger and bitterness of being subjected to longer years of abuse. The development of the character and human relationships around it are likely the theme at the centre of the plot, with the two protagonists going through character changes that are weaved in subtly and craftily to suggest a maturity that is arrived at through selflessness and compassion.It is a beautiful movie that highlights the plight of regressing humanity, which is absolutely relevant in this day and age of forced migration.