The Love That Remains

On a beautiful day, a mom, Anna (Saga Garðarsdóttir, "Woman at War"), prepares a meal for her three children, Ída (the director's daughter, Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir, "Godland"), Grímur (the director's son, Grímur Hlynsson) and Þorgils (the director's son, Þorgils Hlynsson) and her father Pálmi (Ingvar Sigurðsson, "Godland") to eat al fresco, the family dog Panda contributing to the joyous chaos. When dad Magnús (Sverrir Guðnason, "The Girl in the Spider's Web") arrives, he is invited to join them in a way that tells us he no longer lives there in "The Love That Remains."

Laura's Review: A-

Icelandic writer/director/cinematographer Hlynur Pálmason pivots from the period missionary expedition of "Godland," to an intimate family drama, the films connected by a main character's artistic pursuits. While Pálmason cast his daughter in "Godland," his two sons have been featured in his short films, a planned third with them where they build the figure of a knight outside melded into this feature, Iceland's submission for the International Oscar.

Pálmason only hints at reasons for Anna and Maggi's breakup as he shifts from family life ashore to Maggi's presumably long absences on a fishing boat, a playful cutaway featuring a pinup calendar swaying with the boat's motion as a bawdy song plays on the loudspeaker in an empty galley. Anna will open the door one evening to Maggi telling her he's 'just returned,' but his attempts to get romantic are spurned by the tired mom who's just gotten their kids to bed. And yet we will see him helping her build out an art studio of sorts, as well as cutting the metal sheets she will use to create images on canvas out in the Icelandic sun. This is a family that continually ebbs and flows like the ocean which surrounds it.

While Maggi is once again away at sea, Anna will build a circular fence to protect her art project, pounding in fenceposts with her dad. While Pálmi has questioned the value of the family pet who adds to the household's chores (and is promptly told by Ída that 'animals bring us joy'), he now advocates for a horse for Ída, offering to call Magnús demanding his financial share, which he does. (Animals are significant to this family, a herd of wild horses, wild geese and the family chickens becoming sources of contention.)

While Magnús' fishing trade is steady, Anna struggles with her art career. After enduring a visit from Swedish art gallery owner Martin (Anders Mossling), Anna is deflated when he turns her down just as he's about to board a plane home, then horrifies her by revealing the goose egg he's stolen from a nest as he walks onto the tarmac. But the joy Anna finds in her creative pursuits spills into family activities, amusing Maggi and the kids during an all day hike by making herself hideous wrapping string around her features. Pálmason creates beauty here as well, Maggi finding joy with his head in the folds of Anna's voluminous yellow skirt, a heavenly image of pure desire. Art is reflected in a family montage, Anna intoning phrases from a mass murderer article her kids had found as we are treated to a clever video featuring Grímur and Þorgils with one of their dad's fish interspersed with nude drawings and the mushrooms gathered on that hike.

But there will also be backlash, Anna irritated by Magnús later in the day, telling him 'Everything is easier and more fun when you're not around' as she loads the dishwater. And in attempting to get back into her good graces by killing the rooster, Bibbi, Anna says has been attacking her, dad will find himself in the doghouse with Ída, who revered the bird as a family member. Art rears its head again, an arrow the kids had been shooting at that figure of a knight they'd built landing in Grímur's shoulder, a trip to the emergency room necessitating a call to Maggi's boat, Pálmason leaving us with an image of the man literally left at sea, separated from the ones he loves.

The filmmaker achieves the natural rhythms of loving family life with his blend of professionals and family, Guðnason projecting love and despair at being removed from the inner circle, Garðarsdóttir still leaning on the man no longer invited to her bed, yet these two actors bring the film's title to life, the affection and shared life between them palpable. Sigurðsson portrays another satellite, that of extended, but close, family. The three Hlynssons are utter naturals and the family dog, Panda, was recognized with the Palme Dog at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. The film is beautifully shot and edited, Harry Hunt's expressive piano setting various moods. In a year where international submissions for the Oscar offer an embarrassment of riches, Iceland's stands out.

Janus Films releases "The Love That Remains" in select theaters on 1/30/26. Click here for theaters and playdates.