52 Films by Women Vol 9. 25. Weightless (Vægtløs) (Director: Emilie Thalund)


Pictured: Lea (Marie Helweg Augustsen, right) submits to lipstick in a scene from the Danish wellness camp drama, 'Vægtløs' ('Weightless'), written by Marianne Lentz and directed by Emilie Thalund. Still courtesy of Snowglobe (Denmark)

The Danish drama, Weightless (Vægtløs) is ninety minutes of compelling teenage anxiety, telling the entirely relatable story of teenager Lea (Marie Helweg Augustsen) who spends her summer at a camp for obese children. Points are awarded for participation in physical exercise. Lunches are prescribed in ‘T’ rather than ‘Y’ formats, the proportion of meat to vegetables. However, the teenagers aren’t thinking about losing kilograms. They just want to be loved, being more affection than weight challenged.

The debut feature of director Emilie Thalund, working from a script by Marianne Lentz, Weightless is distinguished by naturalistic performances, handheld camerawork and a narrative in which boundaries are crossed. While threatening to turn into a drama about the exposure of a breach of trust, the film isn’t exactly cathartic. As Lea’s physical instructor, Rune (Joachim Fjelstrup) explains to her, ‘you behaved inappropriately as well’.

Lea is introduced to us through one of her feet, against which a flip flop flaps. Cherry stones pepper the ground. Lea is snacking. When the juice spatters her clothes, Lea has to anxiously change her shirt before her mother (Julie Sven Thalund) and younger brother (Joel Hesse Johansen) get to the car. Her sibling slams his face and hands against the window as Lea finishes changing. Her mother instructs the children to fasten their seatbelts. Having set off, Lea roars back affectionately at her brother.

‘This is what you wanted,’ Lea’s mother tells her as they arrive at the camp, though we are unsure. Lea is a latecomer, having just returned from a family holiday in Mallorca. No sooner has Lea moved into her room, noting a bed frame covered in clothes, than she is joined by Sasha (Ella Paaske), a teenager without weight issues, dragging a mattress. ‘I don’t like sleeping alone,’ she explains. Sasha adds that she was sent to the camp in response to unruly behaviour at school and for dating a much older man. Naturally, she proves to be a disruptive influence.


Pictured: Sasha (Ella Paaske, left) and Lea (Marie Helweg Augustsen) in a scene from the Danish film, 'Vægtløs' ('Weightless'), written by Marianne Lentz and directed by Emilie Thalund. Still courtesy of Snowglobe (Denmark)

Nevertheless, the compromising situations into which Lea finds herself never quite take the overly dramatic turns we expect. Damage is emotional than physical. Sasha predictably attracts the attention of a trio of local boys who are keen to separate her from ‘the fatties.’ For her part, Sasha breaks the rules, inviting them to her room to drink beer and watch porn. Sasha uses Lea as her safety net, messaging one of the boys during the thirty minutes of phone time allowed each day. On their way for a swim, Sasha rendezvous with the boys, who arrive on motor scooters and take the two girls to their den. ‘I’m going for a piss,’ Sasha announces. One of the boys, who gave her his necklace, follows suit. We know what is expected, but Lea is left alone, feeling cold, with two horny teenage boys, one of whom kindly loans her his shirt. The crude chatter, the boys dubbing her ‘Big Mouse’, prompts Lea to leave. Moments later, Sasha appears behind her. ‘Run,’ she cries, explaining that the boy started filming her. We expect the worst – the boys to catch up with them at least – but they arrive at the sanctuary of the camp physically unscathed. Sasha is furious with Lea. ‘You left me all alone. What sort of friend are you?’

As an audience member, I was quite glad Lea didn’t cement a friendship with Sasha, who clearly does not treat her as an equal and jumps on her to simulate sex in order to demonstrate why her older boyfriend was ‘weird’. When Sasha calls Lea ‘beautiful’, we feel she does not mean it.

Lea has two other bonding experiences, the first an age appropriate one with Thorbjørn (Max Vorreiter Jensen), with whom she shares a snack and plays footsie, the second with Rune. Lea is understandably attracted to a male without body issues – Rune jokingly shows his bicep to the teasing Sasha – rather than the sensitive but immature Thorbjørn. One always wants what one cannot have. Lea’s fixation on Rune makes us feel uncomfortable. This begins with her staring through his window as he takes a shower, something she does more than once.


Pictured: Rune (Max Vorreiter Jensen, left) and Lea (Marie Helweg Augustsen, right) in a scene from the Danish wellness drama, 'Vægtløs' ('Weightless'), written by Marianne Lentz and directed by Emilie Thalund. Still courtesy of Snowglobe (Denmark)

Their relationship grows as she visits him in his room after hours. They play video games. Then Lea pretends to fall asleep (fully clothed) in his bed. Rune covers her with a blanket and slips in beside her. In the morning, he wakes her up, playing along with the charade. This only makes Lea feel more attached to him.

A line is crossed when Rune invites Lea for a run in order to ‘earn extra points.’ The invitation is extended to other children, but they aren’t keen. At the end of their run, the pair end up lying in the grass. Hugging Lea and paying her compliments, Rune starts to masturbate and ejaculates on her tee-shirt. During this scene, Thalund focuses on Lea’s face, then her eye, as her anxiety increases. When they return to the camp, Rune advises her to clean the stain from her shirt.

Rune then distances himself from Lea, much to her confusion. She turns up in his office. One of the other instructors is there. She questions Lea in front of Rune. Lea keeps quiet. Sasha senses something and, one lunchtime, throws some bread at Rune.

Weightless has been described as a ‘coming of age’ movie, complete with weigh-ins that suggest that Lea has made progress. By the end, Lea exercises some power and compassion through silence. She also better understands her own desires. She is not transformed into a confident person, happier with herself. However, she has started on a journey.

For her part, Thalund is careful not to play to stereotypes of children with weight issues. Lea may take the jellied sweets offered by Rune – his contraband – but she also puts in a shift at the gym. She is prepared to physically test herself. Towards the end of the film, she looks critically at the jellied sweet in the shape of a figure that Rune proffers, which in itself is a form of insult.

Reviewed at Picturehouse Central (Screen Three), Shaftesbury Avenue, Central London, Monday 6 October 2025, 09:00am, London Film Festival Press and Industry screening.

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