Laura (Amaryllis August) and Elias (Albert Rudbeck Lindhardt) embody the tragedy of such a life interruption on the youth. Part of the last graduating class of Gammel Hellerup High School, they are the innocent victims of circumstances beyond their control, of a war with nature they didn’t start that is destroying their hopes and dreams at the very moment the world should be their oyster. Theirs is a different time, and their enemy is environmental forces, but there are echoes of similarly cursed sweethearts throughout literature and history, in their connection and optimism, when circumstances could not be more hopeless. Through Laura’s uncle, Nikolaj (Esben Smed), a government official married to Henrik (Magnus Millang), a select few in the family are forewarned. Henrik’s odious and homophobic brother represents the worst of panicky desperation, his initial response casting him as an early villain. Laura’s architect father, Jacob (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), scrambles to secure work in Paris, becoming one of many respected professional Danes suddenly stripped of credentials and confidence. As the inevitable shutdown of the country nears, life goes on as normally as possible. The final summer in Denmark bathes the characters and their homes in a thin light. A young boy with a talent for soccer sees something more in the puddles on the pavement. In line with Vinterberg’s commitment to cinematic realism, surreal sequences are restricted to Laura’s dreams in soft focus, of Elias, and of water gently flowing across the carpet.