When it comes to movies about parenting or having children, you already know it’s going to be a bit of a tough pill to swallow. There’s nothing fun about watching reality play out on screen, even if it is somebody else’s. But add to that the fact that these people are suffering and pushing hard enough to break themselves to create something, and it simply leaves you a bit exhausted over anything else. A Copenhagen Love Story is what some would call an embodiment of “modern love,” and others will call trash for being too raw. I suppose it’s a mix of the two. It feels trashy because of all the suffering you have to sit through for the faint flicker of hope in the end, and it also is a modern love story because of the rollercoaster of a ride that it takes us on.
In A Copenhagen Love Story, Mia, a successful writer, is just reeling from the success of her book “Tour De Force” about the difficulties of being a single woman. At age 30, Mia’s struggle with dating has become something that bonds her with many other women through her relatable and raw writing. Taking a risk, Mia decides to listen to literally everybody in her life to give an older man named Emil a chance. Emil has two children already, and Mia doesn’t really see a future with him at first, but after a slow start, their relationship snowballs, and Mia suddenly wants kids of her own. Now, Emil already has two kids, and when Mia and he are unable to conceive, she starts to think she’s the problem. Soon, they decide to do IVF treatments, but will these treatments make or break them? That makes up the main premise of A Copenhagen Love Story.
For the good stuff, the movie brings to life a couple’s every day. It doesn’t even feel like watching a movie after a certain point; it just feels like you’re a voyeur peeping into the window of a very cool Danish couple. The chemistry is realistic and wonderful; there’s quite a bit of sex, as you can imagine. The first half of the film is quite fun and exciting, but the second and third acts get really difficult to watch. What you expect in a love story is an understanding of each individual first. To me, it felt like the whole baby thing came out of absolutely nowhere. I do understand that that is the main focus of this story when you’re a self-loathing, cribbing, crying, hysterical mess who can only see the negative side of life. But what the film fails to do is establish these two characters as individuals, so we never truly feel any kind of connection with them. After having seen the whole film, apart from knowing that Mia is a writer and Emil is an artist, I know nothing else about them. I found this especially odd because we know that Mia is such a good writer because she writes from experience, so why don’t we get to see any of that experience? Outside of the IVF stuff, of course.
The only thing we know about Mia and Emil getting together is that they have a great sex life, and he just keeps getting “sweeter and sweeter.” But how and why? What makes Mia want to have a baby with him? Just her seeing him talk to his kids? I’m sure this is an experience many people have. Sometimes it’s instinctive; you just know that this person is the right one, and you go with it. But leaving that aside as my little quip, maybe the point here is that the big hollow in Mia and Emil’s relationship is their emotional connection, and that’s why we don’t get to connect with the characters either. Yeah, fair enough, I’m reaching for the stars here.
But this is not to say that A Copenhagen Love Story is a bad film. I’m just talking about something that I personally feel could’ve made it better, or at least more bearable, maybe even a bit more emotional. It’s like Emil is stoic, but he’s also not. Mia’s entire personality is built around her dating experience, so she’s just a writer who has always had bad luck with men. But then in one rushed moment, we learn that she’s always been too negative, and she’s always focused on the darker side of things, making her run away from anything good for her.
I suppose in terms of a love story, this is a typical cookie-cutter modern-day relationship that goes from a jolly happy time to a sinister one. I just wish the two lead characters didn’t feel so 2D. It’s funny, especially because we see them suffer so much, but we never truly understand them. The film feels rushed at the start and the end, but the midsection feels like a drag because it’s almost like watching these two people get tortured, both mentally and physically. While I understand that that’s how it might feel to be in their position, I wish we’d got to see more of them being happy. Also, I’m not sure the ending of the film does it any favors, and I get that it’s trying to be extra hopeful, but to me, it feels a bit dangerous. I don’t want to give out any spoilers, though, so I’ll leave it at that. If you feel like you’re okay with watching the process of struggling with infertility, then I’d say A Copenhagen Love Story is an okay watch. But if that’s something that’ll hurt you or make you feel emotionally drained, then I would recommend skipping this one. The cast is good, but it all depends on how much you’re willing to put yourself through. To me, I think it’s a bit too much, but to each their own. I’ll give A Copenhagen Love Story 3 out of 5 stars. I wish it had treated Mia and Emil with a bit more love.
