This is a good film about the darkest chapter of post-WWII Norwegian history. The disappointment for me was how the film failed to get into detail about the Norwegian police's many failures while the terrorist attack was progressing. What I recall from the aftermath while following news reports closely, was, for example: The police had two guards stationed ashore who had semi-automatic weapons readily available, yet they cowardly refused to intervene while listening to gun shots from Utøya island, and instead called for backup. Once police enforcements finally arrived, the inflatable boat they used almost sank, and it had to return to the shore to unload some policemen before heading toward the island. I wonder how many kids died only from that mistake. There were no police helicopters available, apparently because the pilots were all on vacation at the same time. The tourist camping ashore who had boats, were true heroes and used their boats to pick up kids from the lake who were swimming away from the island to save their lives. Breivik was shooting at swimmers desperately trying to escape. None of that was in the movie. And - Breivik called the police asking when they were going to arrive to get him. Yes. The terrorist thought the cops were so slow he called them! Unbelievable. Nobody was held accountable. No law enforcement officials or policemen had to face any consequences for the lack of response. Many, many lives could have been spared had Norwegian police been properly on the alert after the Oslo bomb went off.

There's really no law that's been written to give people a sense of justice when crimes like this are committed.

Mass Murderers must be insane by the very nature of what they do but the acts always bring out some anomaly in the law that entails a gruesome reenactment to get some sort of verdict. The mass killer thrives on the production. (Unless of course he gets killed in the process)

This movie is very well done with its portrayal of the killer as a soulless nutcase who comes across as almost normal in his interactions with everybody.... just like Bundy. Very difficult for the authorities to catch him before the heinous crime, but the aftermath of any of these events always shows that there were significant clues that the authorities should have picked up on.

So we end up blaming them and not the perpetrator. The State and the killer become the preoccupying participants and the victims and their families are only secondary to the matter. The grief of the families and the survivors is given a bit more attention in this movie and there are some very moving scenes.

Such an unbelievably tragic subject dealt with in a very compassionate way, the acting is quite well done and has to be understated because of the subject matter.

This is not a film to attend and expect to come out feeling better. It is a statement of the evil that exists in the world and a reminder that it can surface anywhere and anytime. It's worth watching just to get you to keep your antennae working.

It's July 21, 2011 Norway. Anders Behring Breivik is preparing a truck bomb. The next day, he massacres a group of leadership youths on an island retreat. Viljar Hanssen is one of the teens who survived life threatening injuries. In total, 77 are dead and hundreds are injured.

The attack is harrowing. Certainly, Greengrass is well versed in recreating these real life tragedies. In this one, the attack is finished after the first act. The body of the movie deals with a victim's family, and Breivik's defense. It does run out of steam dramatically as Greengrass seems obligated to end the movie with a traditional hero overcoming the villain. It is a fascinating portrait of a mass killer. The family's trauma is compelling but tiring. After the attack, the story really has limited drama. The insanity ploy is not enough in plot development. I couldn't wait to be rid of this narcissist killer.