Another Round (2020) is one of these movies that kept popping up for me. I heard a buzz around it back when it released in 2020 but, while subtitles usually aren’t much of a deterrent for me, I just didn’t feel like reading every time I had a chance to watch it. 

Well, three years later, I’m happy that it caught my attention again. Another Round is a fantastic movie! 

Here’s the trailer:

Another Round is a Danish film starring Mads Mikkelsen (who you’ll remember as the stoic villain in Casino Royale). The movie follows Martin and his three high-school-teacher friends. They’re all in a bit of rut – Martin in particular- and, after a night out and a relevant conversation on the topic, the group decides to perform an experiment where they maintain a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05% throughout the day until 8pm to study the possibility of a social performance enhancement. 

I won’t give away much from there because this is really fun and interesting to watch and consider. As an indulger of alcohol myself, it made me think about my approach to the substance and the excuses we make to act a certain way… even if there is a social performance enhancement. 

This movie is both hilarious and introspective. It’s feel-good for all the wrong reasons. Another Round is not a comedy, instead it is just true and real and that’s something I love about smaller, low key films like this. It’s the equation of raw life plus an interesting gimmick. Foreign films more often than American films have this evocation. I wonder if it’s because the language barrier makes things seem more real or perhaps it’s just that we’re outside of their world visually, physically, spiritual, politically, and culturally. 

Viewer be warned, Another Round had me jonesing for some tequila and had me wondering how fun life could be ever so slightly drunk throughout each day. Naturally, there are consequences to this experiment and Another Round did a great job exploring these pitfalls without making you depressed at the end. 

My favorite thing about this movie is how these four men sit around a laptop and type out their findings as if this is truly an inspired, scientific study. It’s perfect. 

I highly recommend this movie. It’s tragic, beautiful, funny, and deep without bashing you over the head or leaving you with a hangover.

I give this a 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥/5. Another Round has me jonesing for both tequila and more high-quality film experiences like this. You can stream it on Amazon Prime, Apple and Hulu! Take your pick!

PS, this movie reminded me of one of my favorite sketch comedy bits from That Mitchell and Webb Look:

Enjoy!