'22 July': Greengrass wants to say too much

In 22 July, Paul Greengrass focuses on Anders Breivik, the far-right psychopath who murdered 77 people with a bomb in Oslo and a massacre on the island of Utøya in 2011.

His realist, pseudo-chaotic style and the excellent Norwegian cast make the horrors of the story very real. The problem is that Greengrass wants too much. We follow four of the people involved: Breivik, Breivik’s lawyer, the prime minister, and a young victim. Each perspective is fascinating, but the combination of all four weakens the film’s impact.