Elling

"They're packed and ready for the greatest adventure of their lives. All they have to do is get out of the house."

2001 1h 29m NO

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 207

ComedyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

40-year-old Elling, sensitive, would-be poet, is sent to live in a state institution when his mother, who has sheltered him his entire life, dies. There he meets Kjell Bjarne, a gentle giant and female-obsessed virgin, also in his 40s.

“They're packed and ready for the greatest adventure of their lives. All they have to do is get out of the house.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Viaplay Amazon ChannelSubscription

Cast

Per Christian Ellefsen
Elling
Sven Nordin
Kjell Bjarne
Marit Pia Jacobsen
Reidun Nordsletten
Jørgen Langhelle
Frank Åsli
Per Christensen
Alfons Jørgensen
Hilde Olausson
Gunn
Ola Otnes
Hauger
Eli Anne Linnestad
Johanne

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Petter Næss
Writers: Axel Hellstenius
Languages: Norwegian
Countries: Norway

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

RUNTIME

Did you know

89 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Elling Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Petter Næss, shot by Svein Krøvel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Per Christian Ellefsen and Sven Nordin and Marit Pia Jacobsen carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "They're packed and ready for the greatest adventure of their lives. All they have to do is get out of the house.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Petter Næss directs. Svein Krøvel behind the camera. Lars Lillo-Stenberg scores. Inge-Lise Langfeldt cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Norway. Dialogue in Norwegian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

189 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
225 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Part of the "Elling Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Petter Næss, shot by Svein Krøvel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Lars Lillo-Stenberg. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Inge-Lise Langfeldt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Per Christian Ellefsen and Sven Nordin and Marit Pia Jacobsen carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "They're packed and ready for the greatest adventure of their lives. All they have to do is get out of the house.".
9IMDB entry: tt0279064 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 8 themes, including "mentally disabled", "based on novel or book", "male friendship", "loss of virginity".

The technical file

Cinematography: Svein Krøvel
Original score: Lars Lillo-Stenberg
Editing: Inge-Lise Langfeldt
Costume design: Aslaug Konradsdottir
Makeup / hair: Cecilie Greve
Sound: Arne Hansen
Runtime: 89 min · 1h 29m
Status: Released
Original language: NO
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Elling (2001)

Part of

Elling Collection

Also by

Petter Næss

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-08-16
★ 7/10
There is certainly something of the odd couple here - maybe even the oddest of couples, as two men are thrown together by circumstance and state - and have to learn to live with each other. "Elling" (Per Christian Ellefsen) has reached the ripe old age of forty without ever having been untied from his now late mother's apron strings. "Kjell" (Sven Nordin) is an hulk of a man obsessed with girls but completely lacking in the tact or subtlety to ever manage to lose his virginity. Initially, the pair have to share a room in a government hostel where they begin to learn the basic skills of mutual toleration - and for "Elling" that proves to be quite a challenge. After a couple of years, they are deemed - like a couple of house-trained beavers - fit to be released into society and so are provided with a flat and a pension and left to get on with things. The thing is, it's not just his pal who is finding himself a touch hormonal and when the expecting "Reidun" (Marit Pia Jacobsen) hoves into view from the apartment upstairs, confusion reigns between the two men with one lovestruck and getting completely the wrong end of the stick and the other - well he just hasn't much of a clue what's going on. Now some of it is perhaps a little too rose-tinted, and the fact that these lads end up on their feet pretty much from the get-go does remove some of the grittiness and authenticity of living on the state sector, but then again I wonder if the purpose here is just to craft a human story uncomplicated by the negativities of red tape. Ellefsen's reminded me of so many other characters, but not so much as a mimic but more as a hybrid of a man very much on the OCD scale but largely unaware that he is any different from anyone else - except his permanently horny friend to whom he tries, in vain, to give sex advice. It doesn't hang about for ninety minutes and if you're prepared to take it on an entertaining face value then it's quite and enjoyable bromance with a difference.

Production companies