Den store stilhed / The Great Silence

Alma is a novitiate preparing to take her vows. Convent life seems to give the young woman support. She tenderly cares for a terminally ill nun, and attentively answers the calls to the order's spiritual help line. Sometimes, however, her face darkens from an apparent weight on her shoulders – and on occasion she even inflicts physical harm on herself. Suddenly, her older brother, a sober alcoholic, appears at the convent door – and with him, a repressed family history. What is the secret that binds brother and sister? Why does Alma sometimes feel like she is being followed? What does she see that we don't when she moves through the convent's dark corridors? Katrine Brocks, in her directorial debut, adeptly plays with the elements of a psychological thriller. Mysterious tones, strange noises, and lighting effects lend suspense to scenes. With all its might, an unspoken guilt forces itself into the light, including on the visual level.