Summaries

Synopsis

The members of the Danish Resistance Movement were constantly asking the British Forces to bomb the headquarters of the Gestapo in Copenhagen, at the Shell House. The Gestapo kept the members of the resistance on the top floor of the headquarters so that in case the air forces attacked them, the prisoners would act as a human shield.

In Feb 1945, Henry (Bertram Bisgaard) was cycling among the the lush green meadows of Jutland when suddenly he heard a blast. He went to see what had happened. He saw a car being burned to ashes with the people still inside it. Maybe Henry had never seen anybody die right in front of his eyes in such a brutal manner. From that day on, the boy suffered from a phobia where he was scared of the open skies and also stopped speaking. Henry's mother (Maria Rossing) takes him to a doctor, who has his own peculiar way of dealing with the effects of a trauma experienced by a child. He calls him "sissy" and tries to undermine his male ego in the hope that Henry will start speaking. Henry's mother decides to take him to Copenhagen, where her sister stayed.

The attack on a civilian automobile that Henry witnessed was supposed to be for a German staff vehicle, as told by Major Truelson (Nicklas Søderberg Lundstrøm), belonging to the Special Operation Executives (SOE) of the Danish forces, to the pilots who were responsible for carrying out the attacks.Sister Teresa (Fanny Bornedal) had her own way of checking whether God exists or not. She was an ardent believer but often did things that were prohibited by her religion, so as to challenge the existence of God. She had an innocent theory that if any wrongdoing was committed, God would come and express His disdain, thereby proving their existence.

Henry's mom takes her to her sister's (Danica Curcic). He meets his cousin named Rigmor (Ester Birch). In contrast to a quiet Henry, Rigmor was a chatterbox. She had this knack of filling even the darkest moments with her exuberance. Henry is told to go to school with Rigmor. They are accompanied by another little girl named Eva (Ella Nilsson). Both the girls are inquisitive about why Henry is keeping quiet and why he keeps looking at the sky. Their cherubic aura had the potential to darn any hole effortlessly. Rigmor makes an argument that even Eva saw somebody die in front of her eyes but she could still speak, and so Henry would be able to speak too, if he tried.

Meanwhile the Shell house has resistance inmates such as Svend Nielsen (Casper Kjær Jensen).

Crossing roads beneath the open skies was a task for Henry, but Rigmor had a solution for it. She took the rope from her home, which was used to hang wet clothes. She ties it to Henry and starts pulling, whereas Eva pushes Henry from behind. The mission is accomplished, and the kids are hopeful that soon Henry will be able to do it without the rope.Henry slowly learns to smile once again and starts gaining back his lost confidence. The credit was to be given to Rigmor and Eva. Childhood is a phase where you don't stop dreaming even after you wake up. As we grow up, the power of belief somewhere fizzles off. The girls had no doubt in their minds that Henry was going to get better.

Teresa meets a Gestapo officer named Frederik (Alex Høgh Andersen). His moral turpitude was not taken well by his own father, who couldn't take the fact that his son was helping the Nazis. Teresa sees him for the first time when he is beating a member of the resistance movement. She tells him that he'll burn in hell. The way she said, stirred something inside Frederik. He meets her again, where she asks him to kiss her. She tells him that he is a devil and that if God existed, he would come and stop her. A forbidden romance brews between the two. The irony is that their relationship feels as virtuous as it could be, and though Teresa was on the path of breaking her vow of celibacy, it seems right.

Eva's father scolds him in the morning for not having her porridge. She leaves for school without eating anything. It was the same day that the British forces decided to bombard the Gestapo Headquarters. Low-flying aircraft, accompanied by 30 Mustang fighter bombers, were to strike the Shell House. Though they were able to strike the Gestapo Building, they accidentally also bombed the school where Henry, Eva, and Rigmor used to go. Eva was feeling uneasy due to a lack of food in her system, so she headed out to the washroom. Henry accompanied him. Though Frederik had left the forces, he came back to help after seeing the bombardment.

Teresa and Rigmor were stuck inside the rubble, and water was filling up the claustrophobic space at a quick rate. Frederik almost saves Teresa, but as soon as the stone on her body is removed, she jumps in the water to save Rigmor. The delicately placed rubble gets displaced, and Sister Teresa and Rigmor are not able to survive. Henry and Eva were lucky enough to survive.Henry is given the task to write down each survivors name, age and color of the dress and run to the theatre to relay this information. The theatre is where all parents have been asked to sit, while they wait for information to come in.

Henry, who was helping the rescuers, tells Eva's mother that she had gone home. Her mother scampers back to find her eating the same cold porridge for which she had been scolded by her father earlier that morning.