Submarino
Two estranged brothers struggle through addiction, guilt, and inherited trauma while searching for a fragile path toward family connection.
Overview
Two brothers confront their troubled past and the choices that haunt them in a world of addiction and despair.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- bleak
- harrowing
- compassionate
- serious film night
- arthouse cinema evening
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film's fierce social realism, symbolic structure, emotional severity, and compassionate treatment of its damaged characters.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The brothers' alcoholism, drug dependency, homelessness, and criminality are presented with harsh consistency and sympathy.
Nick and his brother remain psychologically defined by their mother's alcoholism and the death of their baby brother.
The film follows Nick and his unnamed brother through separate adult lives before their reunion at their mother's funeral.
Shelters, impoverished homes, and damaged family spaces reinforce the brothers' isolation and precarious lives.
Films like Submarino, and why
The Celebration
harsh social realism, addiction, and compassionate portraits of damaged working-class lives
The Selfish Giant
bleak family drama centered on poverty, parenthood, and the consequences of childhood trauma
Nil by Mouth
naturalistic working-class tragedy, substance abuse, and morally complex family relationships
The Sweet Hereafter
emotionally severe social realism with fractured families and redemptive undertones
Movie Details
- Director
- Thomas Vinterberg
- Release Date
- 2010-03-25
- Runtime
- 115 min
- Rating
- 7.1 / 10 (182)
Cast
- Jakob Cedergren
- Peter Plaugborg
- Gustav Fischer Kjærulff
- Morten Rose
- Henrik Strube
- Helene Reingaard Neumann
- Patricia Schumann
- Dar Salim
- Sebastian Bull Sarning
- Mads Broe Andersen
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Submarino about?
- Two estranged brothers struggle through addiction, guilt, and inherited trauma while searching for a fragile path toward family connection.
- What is Submarino like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Submarino as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Submarino violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Submarino as moderate.
- What did critics think of Submarino?
- Critics broadly praised the film's fierce social realism, symbolic structure, emotional severity, and compassionate treatment of its damaged characters.
- Which films are like Submarino?
- Films with a similar feel include The Celebration, The Selfish Giant, Nil by Mouth, and The Sweet Hereafter.
- How long is Submarino?
- Submarino runs 115 minutes.
- Where can I watch Submarino?
- In United States, Submarino streams on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel.
