Sometime in the future, families are limited to one child each, as the world is incredibly overpopulated. To even further solve the issue of overpopulation, scientists have invented a way to cryogenically freeze children to be woken up when the population has dropped. During this time, a young woman, who happens to die during labor, gives birth to identical septuplets, each named for a day of the week. Their grandfather, Terrence Settman (Willam Defoe), devotes the remainder of his life to keeping all seven of the girls safe and ensuring that they grow up as normally as possible. They have spent the first thirty years of their lives pretending to be the same individual, Karen Settman (Noomi Rapace). What Happened to Monday depicts the lives of the Settman sisters after a coworker, Jerry (Pål Sverre Hagen) discovers their secret. Now their lives are threatened by the government and the woman in charge of keeping the population at a manageable rate, Dr. Nicolette Cayman (Glenn Close). They must now, more than ever, work together, as they have their entire lives, in order to survive and keep their family together.
Rapace’s experience playing Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series prepared her for the intensity of What Happened to Monday. From the opening moments of the film, audiences are pulled into a world of despair and treachery at the hands of the government. By the time Rapace first appears on screen, viewers are aware that the population is up to nearly one billion people, and is continuing to rise at a rate of around one million each day. With these figures handed to audiences early on, they are made aware of the difficulties that the Settman’s will face throughout their lives. Rapace is tasked with portraying not one Settman septuplet, but all seven of them. She must take on the personas of seven different people and convince audiences that, while they are able to portray one another in their reality, they are, in fact, seven, very different, people (because, while they all pretend to be Karen Settman, on the inside, they are quite different). Her portrayal of each character is beautiful, as she flawlessly depicts seven extremely different personalities. Her performance of each is engaging, and allows audiences to appreciate each of the sisters equally, but in different ways.
Writers Max Botkin and Kerry Williamson and director Tommy Wirkola shine as they construct a film that, in many ways, depicts a reality that some people fear tremendously. People all over the world fear that famine will one day plague us and the ones closest to us. Some believe that famine is already upon us (this is not an opinion, just an understanding that many have), and that there are people around the world who are suffering at this very moment. Strictly speaking, What Happened to Monday is not a horror film, but it plays on the fears of many, and Botkin, Williamson and Wirkola are able to transcend many genres (including, sci-fi, action, mystery, etc.). Their ability to settle in many different genres helps to significantly increase the number of potential viewers. They create a series of relationships that are real and relevant. The sisters, each one with a different mindset, create bonds with one another and the people around them. These relationships are touching and reach nearly every viewer in one way or another.
Clocking in at just over two hours, all who are a part of What Happened to Monday beautifully and thoroughly develop this story of love, loss and sacrifice. Every moment of the film envelops audiences and draws them into the compelling nature of the aforementioned relationships. The play on the fears of the many in our own somewhat twisted world brings the story close to home and makes audiences appreciate What Happened to Monday that much more. It is two hours of nonstop drama, of intense action and of compelling content that renders audiences almost speechless when all is said and done. It allows those viewers to appreciate what they already have, and it teaches them to work toward a better future, not just for themselves, but for the world around them. These deep, meaningful ideals behind Wirkola’s film is what makes it so appealing. He never takes his foot off of the gas, and he certainly does not let his audience down.
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