The Love That Remains

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The Love That Remains

Jan 2026

1h 49m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

94%

Tomatometer

54 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Anna, an artist, and Magnús, a fisherman, live with their three children and charismatic sheepdog in the quiet grandeur of the Icelandic countryside. As the fractures in their marriage come to the surface, the couple try to hold onto the afterimages of a life together and make sense of a deep and lingering devotion. Filmmaker Hlynur Pálmason (Godland) brings surprising humor and emotional weight to this gorgeous, intimate, and brilliantly expansive scenes from a marriage, amidst the majestic backdrop of the changing seasons.

Critics Consensus

The Love That Remains gently drifts through a melancholic yet quietly humorous portrait of love and separation with its exquisite Icelandic imagery and tender performances buoying a deliberately mild, fragmentary narrative.

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Kevin Maher

The Times (UK)

Mar 17

3/5

This is a film of rolling vignettes, beautifully shot on 35mm film, that are often zany and surreal but slowly coalesce to form a portrait of a family at the mercy of, oh yes, the unforgiving elements.

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Philip De Semlyen

Time Out

Mar 13

4/5

The symbolism is lightly worn here in a gently observational film that’s underpinned with humanism and compassion. Here, the healing happens when you’re busy worrying about the dishes.

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Adam Nayman

Sight & Sound

Mar 13

Its frightening, hilarious final image suggests a state of anxious suspension commensurate with Pálmason’s own marvellous directorial balancing act.

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Dustin Chang

Floating World

Apr 12

The Love That Remains emphasizes that we live with nature and all our incongruities are part of the elements, not separate entities, nothing more. Pálmason humbles you in different ways in the presence of nature.

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Claire Di Maio

But Why Tho?

Apr 1

7/10

Hlynur Pálmason’s keen eye for observation makes him a genuinely compelling directorial voice in European cinema.

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James Mottram

Radio Times

Mar 31

3/5

It's a sometimes meandering but often charming meditation on emasculation and the stresses of divorce.

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Fred B

@fredinMA 1d

The 35mm cinematography is wonderful, especially the close shots of the commercial fishing boat and her artistic process. The story line is average. What really knocks it down for me is the intrusive magical realism and the contrived, strained metaphors, especially at the end. I wasn't expecting redemption or reconciliation, but the final metaphor literally cast the story adrift. Neither love nor anything but an smh remains at the end.

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Steven G

@sfSteve 6d

I am sooooo addicted to these strange northern tales. This is another. If you've not seen any of Pàlmason's other works, keep an open mind. Relax. Neither believe nor disbelieve what's rolling out in front of you. You'll think about it, probably a lot, later.

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Henry D

@Henry_Domke May 16

Pleasant, quirky, relaxed portrait of a young divorced family, even if the reason for the divorce remains unclear. Nice to spend time in Iceland and to see both an artist and a commercial fisherman at work. The playful special effects add a light touch.

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danelectro T

@danelectro Apr 20

A slow film but a powerful movie filled with surreal symbolism on the theme of divorce, the husband represented by a mannequin the children shoot at in a game, with the knight, symbol of fatherly protection, turned into a powerless, passive, target. The scene of the screaming, floating, man also enacts how a divorced father feels in his isolation and guilt, just floating aimlessly while the mother and children have forged the new, cohesive, family unit without him. The scene where the mother yells at the husband for disciplining a child more to meet his needs than the child's, is a central one. It takes a while to sink in what a devastating portrayal of the emotional effect of a love relationship breakdown this movie succeeds at conveying.

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Hadar T

@RT37803126 Apr 13

What a waste of time so boring why did such thing get on screen with fake reviews 😒

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Mar 29

The worldwide gross is $394,685.00.

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Hlynur Pálmason

Director

Saga Garðarsdóttir

Actor

Sverrir Gudnason

Actor

Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir

Actor

Þorgils Hlynsson

Actor

Grímur Hlynsson

Actor

The Love That Remains: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Anna, an artist, and Magnús, a fisherman, live with their three children and charismatic sheepdog in the quiet grandeur of the Icelandic countryside. As the fractures in their marriage come to the surface, the couple try to hold onto the afterimages of a life together and make sense of a deep and lingering devotion. Filmmaker Hlynur Pálmason (Godland) brings surprising humor and emotional weight to this gorgeous, intimate, and brilliantly expansive scenes from a marriage, amidst the majestic backdrop of the changing seasons.

Director: Hlynur Pálmason
Producer: Katrin Pors, Anton Máni Svansson
Screenwriter: Hlynur Pálmason
Distributor: Janus Films
Production Co: Still Vivid, Snowglobe Films
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Icelandic
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 30, 2026, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 14, 2026
Box Office (Gross USA): $135.0K
Runtime: 1h 49m