‘To New Beginnings’ review: Paprika Steen-directed drama sees friendships unravel in Copenhagen

Dir: Paprika Steen. Denmark. 2025. 93mins

An annual New Year’s Eve celebration spirals into a night of reckoning in To New Beginnings. The latest Danish-language feature from actor-turned-director Paprika Steen is a warm, inviting seasonal ensemble piece in which old friends must recognise new realities. 

A shrewd understanding of individual flaws and failings

Steen’s deft handling of a bittersweet tale combined with a starry Scandinavian cast should make this an attractive commercial proposition in its home territory of Denmark. A world premiere in Zurich should bring it to the attention of wider European audiences who have relished prickly social gatherings from Festen (1998; in which Steen also starred) to A Christmas Tale (2008).

Steen has shown a fascination with family dynamics and group stories in previous directorial projects That Time Of Year (2018) and Fathers And Mothers (2022). To New Beginnings examines the way in which long-term friendships are challenged by changes to what has previously made them work. Jakob Weis’s screenplay reveals a shrewd understanding of individual flaws and failings as it delves into a end of year celebration in Copenhagen.

It is 6pm, and Nomi (Tuva Novotny) is preparing to host a traditional dinner party that will last until the midnight fireworks and beyond. The guests are her closest friends, including Jens (Anders W. Berthelsen) and his wife Charlotte (Birgitte Hjort Sorensen), plus Kris (Christian Tafdrup) and his latest in a line of much younger girlfriends Katinka (Mike Deleuran), who is yet to make an appearance. Also attending are Nomi’s son Vincent (Daniel Orum-Hansen) and Jens and Charlotte’s sixteen year-old daughter Caro (Nikoline Juul Rohold). 

The difference this year is that Nomi’s new boyfriend Finn (Lars Brygmann) has been invited to join the party. He has the unenviable task of filling the space left by her late partner Martin (Adam Erik Simonsen), who died in a tragic accident.

Weis and Steen build a convincing picture of what this evening means to everyone and how Finn’s presence will serve as a disruptor. Brygmann’s earnest, droll nature and deadpan timing help create a sense of Finn as a blithe, pedantic know-it-all, only prepared to have fun on his terms. He shows no respect for long-established traditions that funny hats must be worn, that Jens always prepares the main course of the meal and fireworks are never lit until midnight. Ignorance of the things they cherish makes Finn a constant challenge to the group’s dynamics, although he does perform a mean Spanish-language version of Lou Reed’s ’Walk On The Wild Side’. But even that involves the sacrilege of him playing Martin’s guitar to accompany his vocals.

A good deal of wry humour is found in the social awkwardness and hurt feelings that start to infect the gathering. Weis’s screenplay is nicely peppered with sharp lines and there is a hint of British playwright Alan Ayckbourn’s work in its understanding of stressful seasonal situations.

To New Beginnings mostly unfolds in Nomi’s apartment, but Steen never allows it to feel claustrophobic. Nicolaj Monberg’s sharp editing gives a confident flow to the action and Steen makes use of the entire apartment for everything from quiet encounters to explosive group scenes. When the film moves to the apartment’s balcony or out onto the streets, it captures a sense of the magic in a city ready to party and embrace the possibilities of a new year.

How much Martin meant to everyone is the underlying theme that moves the film into darker territory. Jens considered Martin his best friend, and Berthelsen plays him as someone permanently about to boil over at each fresh insult to his pal’s cherished memory. Yet the events of the evening reveal that Martin was no saint, and that all of these friends can only benefit from a healthy reality check.