Naboer is a 2005Norwegianpsychological thriller film, directed by Pål Sletaune. In the movie, the protagonist John is drawn into a violent, sexual game by his two beautiful female neighbours. Naboer received an over-18 rating in Norway, which had only happened to four Norwegian movies before. Upon release it was well received by critics. Sletaune stated "I worked hard with Kristoffer Joner to make the character into something which would interest the audience".
Plot
The main character, John, has just been dumped by his girlfriend Ingrid. He then becomes acquainted with his next-door neighbours, the beautiful sisters Anne and Kim. The sisters know a strange amount of detail about him and it soon becomes clear that he is being entrapped in a twisted, psychological game.
Cast
Production
The movie was highly anticipated in Norway, particularly because of certain scenes with highly violent and sexual content. For its cinematic review, Naboer received an over-18 rating, which had only happened to four Norwegian movies before, namely Pål Bang-Hansen's Douglas in 1970, Per Blom's Mother's house in 1974, Lasse Glomm's Stop it! in 1980 and Svend Wam's Hotel St. Pauli in 1987.
Reception
At the time, Norwegian reviewers were highly positive to the movie. Jon Selås, writing for Verdens Gang, gave the movie six out of six points. Selås called Joner's performance the best of his career. Dagbladet's Inger Bentzrud called the movie "intelligent", and gave it five out of six points. The movie was seen by 108,096 people in Norway. Internationally, The Village Voice appreciated "the brilliant art direction and a gift for tension" but criticised the "classic misogynist panic" of the ending. The Cineuropa review praised the "excellent cinematography, production design and a haunting score". Adrian Wootton commented that Naboer was "very high quality film-making and a roller coaster ride that you are unlikely to forget". As of 2019, Naboer consistently features in top ten lists of Scandinavian horror films.
Box office
The film took $1,277,769 worldwide after its release in 2005. When it was re-released in 2006, it took $19,677.
