The Love That Remains

The Love That Remains - image - a film by Hlynur Pálmason
The Love That Remains - image - a film by Hlynur Pálmason
The Love That Remains - image - a film by Hlynur Pálmason
The Love That Remains - image - a film by Hlynur Pálmason
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE - 2025 SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL (4-15 JUN)
The Love That Remains - poster - a film by Hlynur Pálmason
Exquisitely tender. Spiralling into surrealism as ordered lives and minds unravel, Pálmason’s fourth feature is an album of achingly felt, morbidly funny and increasingly haywire scenes from a marriage. Wise and lyrical, “The Love That Remains” thrives on its profound understanding of each family’s individual oddness, and the incremental confusion with which growing children regard their parents, as their elders grow smaller and more flawed by the day.
Perfectly crafted. This instantly joins the ranks with 'Marriage Story' as one of THE best break-up films EVER made. For real. Every single shot is brilliant. The score, the lightness of it all, the humour, the honesty, the kids, the dog, everything about it is pure bliss. So uplifting & entertaining. I walked out of this film happier than I did when it started – how did Pálmason do that?
An unexpectedly playful and romantic film that leaves your heart full to the brim. Captures the adventure, wonder and magic of everyday moments and the intimacy we share with our families.
Director: Hlynur Pálmason
Cast: Saga Garðarsdóttir, Sverrir Gudnason, Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir, Þorgils Hlynsson, Grímur Hlynsson.
Duration: 109mins
Country of Origin: Iceland
CTC
Exquisitely tender. Spiralling into surrealism as ordered lives and minds unravel, Pálmason’s fourth feature is an album of achingly felt, morbidly funny and increasingly haywire scenes from a marriage. Wise and lyrical, “The Love That Remains” thrives on its profound understanding of each family’s individual oddness, and the incremental confusion with which growing children regard their parents, as their elders grow smaller and more flawed by the day.
Perfectly crafted. This instantly joins the ranks with 'Marriage Story' as one of THE best break-up films EVER made. For real. Every single shot is brilliant. The score, the lightness of it all, the humour, the honesty, the kids, the dog, everything about it is pure bliss. So uplifting & entertaining. I walked out of this film happier than I did when it started – how did Pálmason do that?
An unexpectedly playful and romantic film that leaves your heart full to the brim. Captures the adventure, wonder and magic of everyday moments and the intimacy we share with our families.

OFFICIAL SELECTION - 2025 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL (Premiere)
OFFICIAL SELECTION - 2025 SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL (Official Competition)

From award-winning writer/director Hlynur Pálmason (Godland, A White, White Day) – one of cinema’s most singular contemporary artists – THE LOVE THAT REMAINS tenderly and hilariously captures a year in the life of a family of five, as the parents navigate their separation.

Though in the throes of a splitting up, Anna (Saga Garðarsdóttir) and Magnus (Sverrir Gudnason) still spend time together for the sake of their three children, Ída and twins Þorgils and Grímur (played, remarkably, by the three real-life children of director Pálmason). Magnus works at sea, infrequently returning to land, where he asserts himself as the patriarch with limited efficacy. Anna is an artist whose vast and impressive works fail to receive suitable recognition. In their interactions across the changing seasons, whilst there's sufficient indication of why the separation is happening, there's also the familiarity of a long-held love and a glimmer of a chance of reconciliation...

Beginning in a particular tone, THE LOVE THAT REMAINS takes radical and wonderful diversions into thrilling comedic and fantastical sequences. “Life is nothing but a fucking hassle, but the animals bring us joy,” one character says. But Pálmason conveys so much love and emotion in this deeply felt film that there’s certainly a great deal of delight to be taken from spending time with these humans too.

The Love That Remains - poster - a film by Hlynur Pálmason
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE - 2025 SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL (4-15 JUN)
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