Anders is from a middle-class family from the west of Oslo. He is in his mid-30s and has spent the past few years in a drug rehabilitation centre. He has overcome his addiction and is considered to be clean. Nevertheless he half-heartedly attempts to commit suicide. But because of a job interview in an editorial office, he returns to Oslo the same day. He visits a friend who now has a family, drifts through the streets, meets a friend of his sister's, tries to contact his ex in New York, ends up at a birthday party, goes to a club, meets a girl - but nowhere does he find comfort. Joachim Trier ("Reprise", NFL 2007) has masterfully adapted Pierre Drieu LaRochelle's pre-existentialist novel "Le feu follet" while simultaneously depicting OSlo from a radically subjective perspective. "Oslo, August 31st" is gripping contemporary cinema of the highest international quality, not least thanks to Anders Danielsen Lie's charismatic acting performance.