‘Low Expectations’ review: Understated Norwegian debut stars singer Marie Ulven

Dir/scr: Eivind Landsvik. Norway/Denmark. 2026. 105mins

A depressed young woman is desperately seeking hope for the future in Eivind Landsvik’s gentle, slow-burning debut feature Low Expectations. Landsvik displays a sensitivity to mental health struggles in a film marked by its quiet intelligence and wry wit. The lead performance from singer/actor Marie Ulven, known professionally as Girl In Red, should provide a commercial hook in some territories. Following a Cannes Directors’ Fortnight world premiere, Low Expectations will be released domestically in Norway by Nordisk Film Distributors on September 11.

Ulven’s  performance carries a plaintive story

After a whirlwind music career marked by endless touring, Maja (Marie Ulven) reaches rock bottom, passed out on the floor of yet another anonymous hotel room. A lively montage of Ulven’s own musical career provides a handy summation of that element of Maja’s life. The next time we see her, Maja has returned home to live with her mother Astrid (Tone Mostraum). She is working as a teaching assistant in her mother’s school, barely surviving the tedium of a job that demands little of her.

Landsvik’s short films Sofia, en sommer (2021) and Tits (2023) dealt with social isolation, anxiety and tricky relationships. His intelligent, understated writing chimes with much of the material in Girl In Red’s songs, which frequently explore mental health issues, broken hearts and romantic longing. There is an American indie vibe to the film and an affinity with the films of Kelly Reichardt as Landsvik focuses on the little setbacks and victories of everyday life. 

Nobody is harder on Maja than herself. The 29-year-old is full of self-loathing and the conviction that her once promising career is over. Mother and daughter are constantly walking on egg shells as any careless comment can cause offence. The students around Maja are more than a decade younger than her, caught up in social media, navigating relationships and planning for the future. The setting only encourages her view that time has passed her by.

Landsvik frames Low Expectations as a film of reflection and introspection; Maja is frequently shown watching herself in mirrors as if trying to discern who she really is. Left with her own thoughts, she inserts her adult self into memories of the past. There is also the parallel story of student Aida (Embla Berntsen), a fan of Maja’s band Vongole, who thinks she may have found a soulmate in the older woman.

The film effectively portrays how all-consuming depression can be. Maja is constantly tired, exasperated by people asking how she feels and reluctant to engage with the world. “I don’t recognise you,” her mother claims. She is someone who always seems alone in a crowd. 

The possibility of change comes from the people around Maja and their simple acts of kindness. Anders Danielsen Lie nicely underplays the role of laidback English teacher Johannes, exuding a Zen-like calm as he extends sympathy and friendship to Maja. Snorre Kind Monsson (who appeared in Tits) provides engaging comic relief as Oscar, an irreverent but good-hearted teacher who refuses to take anything seriously. 

Landsvik’s low-key approach eventually pays dividends as Maja’s journey from despair to the earliest glimmers of hope feels honestly earned. Marie Ulven is impressive in her screen debut, conveying the sense of someone merely going through the motions of life. Her anguished looks, impassive features and prickly persona all speak of someone overwhelmed by everything that life demands of her. Her performance carries a plaintive story, to which she also contributes an original song.