The Celebration

"Every family has a secret."

1998 1h 41m DA

🙌

7.7

BANGER

🔥

91%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

IMDB

★7.7TMDB · 1,326🍅91%Rotten Tomatoes●82Metacritic★8IMDB · 98,330

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The family of a wealthy businessman gather to celebrate his 60th birthday. During the course of the party, his eldest son presents a speech that reveals a devastating secret that turns the night into a battle of truth and denial.

“Every family has a secret.”

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Where to watch · US

Criterion ChannelSubscription

Cast

Ulrich Thomsen
Christian
Henning Moritzen
Faderen
Thomas Bo Larsen
Michael
Paprika Steen
Helene
Birthe Neumann
Moderen
Trine Dyrholm
Pia
Helle Dolleris
Mette
Therese Glahn
Michelle

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Writers: Thomas Vinterberg, Mogens Rukov
Languages: Danish, German, English
Countries: Denmark, Sweden

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $1.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

28 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Danish, German, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Denmark, Sweden.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Thomas Vinterberg, shot by Anthony Dod Mantle. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Lars Bo Jensen. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Valdís Óskarsdóttir shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ulrich Thomsen and Henning Moritzen and Thomas Bo Larsen carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Thomas Vinterberg directs. Anthony Dod Mantle behind the camera. Lars Bo Jensen scores. Valdís Óskarsdóttir cuts. Produced in Denmark, Sweden. Dialogue in Danish, German, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $1.3M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
228 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Danish, German, English.
4International production across 2 countries: Denmark, Sweden.
5Directed by Thomas Vinterberg, shot by Anthony Dod Mantle. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Lars Bo Jensen. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Valdís Óskarsdóttir shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Ulrich Thomsen and Henning Moritzen and Thomas Bo Larsen carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Every family has a secret.".
10IMDB entry: tt0154420 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 24 themes, including "daughter", "depression", "infidelity", "child abuse".

The technical file

Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle
Original score: Lars Bo Jensen
Editing: Valdís Óskarsdóttir
VFX supervisor: Peter Hjorth
Sound: Morten Holm
Runtime: 101 min · 1h 41m
Status: Released
Budget: $1,300,000
Original language: DA
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Celebration (1998)
Rotten Tomatoes: 91% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 82/100
IMDB rating: 8/10 · 98,330 votes
MPAA: R
US box office: $1,656,223

Awards

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award28 wins & 23 nominations total

Silver nugget for the best foreign film
Amanda Award for Best Nordic Feature Film
European Film Award for European Discovery of the Year

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Thomas Vinterberg

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-01-01
★ 7/10
I have always loathed, and avoided, family gatherings though none of mine ever became quite so toxic as this one. It’s “Helge” (Henning Moritzen) who has reached sixty years old, and so has assembled his family and friends at a luxury hotel to celebrate. We can tell that we are in for a bumpy ride when son “Michael” (Thomas Bo Larsen) arrives with brother “Christian” (Ulrich Thomsen) to discover that he hasn’t been invited. No oversight, either, it appears so his brother has to intercede and get him, his wife and children some accommodation. Then their anthropologist sister “Helene” (Paprika Steen) arrives with her black boyfriend “Gbatokai” (Gbatokai Dakinah) and the sibling’s rivalry is immediately evident to all watching, as is the liveliness of the marriage between “Michael” and his wife “Mette” (Helle Dolleris). With this distinctly dysfunctional environment established, we enter the dining room where their dad, and mum “Elsie” (Birthe Neumann) are being entertained by the virgin toastmaster (Klaus Bondam) who assumes this will be a civilised gathering of adulatory speeches from a loving family. Ha! Fat chance. With some wine and schnapps inside of him, “Christian” starts the ball rolling with a tribute that is accusatory and angry - and that’s just the beginning of a meal from hell. Much of this is presented to us as if we were a fly on the wall, or hiding in an handbag somewhere, and that (naturally lit) handheld photography takes us up close and personal as the wheels come off and upheaval ensues. Though the topic itself is fairly heinous, there is still opportunity for some some humour here - though not of the laugh out loud variety, and the plot occasionally resets itself to allow us to take a breather from it’s relentlessness. Thomsen and Larson deliver really quite powerfully here, but I thought it Dolleris and, to a lesser extent, Dakinah, who stood out more with two performances that distracted us from the thrust of the plot in largely different, and quite entertaining, fashions. I can only hope that there is nothing remotely autobiographical from Thomas Vinterberg as this quite cleverly disguises our increasing sense of disgust in a veneer of more established behavioural norms along the lines of a black tie, posh frock and head in the sand (or bottle) approach. It hits the ground running and is well worth a watch - though perhaps not just before a big anniversary dinner.

Production companies