22 July
Directed by Paul Greengrass
- crime
- drama
- history
- thriller
The story
On 22 July 2011, neo-Nazi terrorist Anders Behring Breivik murdered 77 young people attending a Labour Party Youth Camp on Utøya Island outside of Oslo. This three-part story focuses on the survivors, the political leadership of Norway, and the lawyers involved.
What it’s like
Cold Nordic daylight and handheld, documentary-style camerawork give 22 July a raw, almost reportorial texture. Much of it plays in drab institutional interiors (a crowded courtroom, a government office, a hospital corridor) under flat fluorescent light, while the island scenes shift to bright, open summer green and lake water that feel dangerously ordinary. Editing is brisk and long-form, with a sparse, tense score that gives way to near silence at the worst moments. The vibe is grim, anxious and sober, with a documentary weight that never softens. It suits a serious evening with full attention, not background viewing. Violence is intense and frequent: a car bomb, gunfire against young people, and the aftermath, including injuries and a brain-injury storyline, are shown directly, though never gratuitously. Emotional register is heavy and mournful. Its arcs follow a survivor struggling to return to daily life, a government wrestling with grief and blame, and lawyers confronting a perpetrator's ideology. For viewers drawn to true-crime-adjacent historical drama who can handle sustained, unflinching grief.
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