Depressed, broke and back living with her mother, musician Maja takes a part-time job at a local high school. Far from the career that once defined her, she begins finding unexpected value in ordinary work, new connections and a life no longer measured by ambition.

2026
Low Expectations
Low Expectations
Australian Premiere.
Director
Runtime
105 Minutes
Country
Denmark, Norway
Classification
Unclassified 15+
At 29, musician Maja has achieved the career she dreamed of, only to find herself depressed, broke and unable to imagine who she might be without it. Retreating from music, she moves back in with her mother and takes a part-time job supervising students at a local high school. Far from the identity that once consumed her, Maja begins to notice the pleasures of a life she might previously have overlooked: ordinary work, new connections, family, friendship and simply having time to think. Norwegian pop star Marie Ulven, better known as Girl in Red, brings an unforced presence to her screen debut, alongside The Worst Person in the World (2021) star Anders Danielsen Lie. With dry humour, soft melancholy and an eye for the small kindnesses of everyday life, Low Expectations resists easy ideas of success and failure. Instead, it finds freedom in loosening the grip of ambition and discovering that what you do need not determine who you are.
“A film marked by its quiet intelligence and wry wit.”
Screen International
“Magnetic and refreshingly unaffected.”
RogerEbert.com
Cannes
New Zealand

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Film Credits
Director
Eivind Landsvik
Year
2026
Country
Denmark & Norway
Language
Danish, English & Norwegian
Subtitles
English
Type
Feature Fiction
Program Strand
World Cinema
Producer
Lotte Sandbu & Synnøve Hørsdal
Writer
Eivind Landsvik
Cinematographer
Andreas Bjørseth
Editor
Patrick Larsgaard
Cast
Anders Danielsen Lie, Embla Berntsen, Marie Ulven, Snorre Kind Monsson & Tone Mostraum
Music
Bendik Hovik Kjeldsberg & Frederikke Hoffmeier
Film Source
Salaud Morisset
Genre
Drama & Music
