Mette has had her second child and is on parental leave. Yet life at home is far from perfect. She wishes her husband Simon would pull his weight more within the family and misses her job at a centre for victims of domestic violence, where her colleagues assure her that things are also running smoothly without her. More dismayed than reassured, she eventually strikes out on her own to try and help a former client in crisis, albeit against her better judgement. When the client’s violent boyfriend shows up, the situation threatens to escalate.
The retrospective view referenced by the title is anything but a conventional cinematic flashback. The events are highly fragmented, with the puzzle pieces of the plot only coming together gradually. This fractured quality piercingly conveys the nature of a traumatic experience and a way of experiencing the world where the ego is not master in its own house. The recitative singing on the soundtrack then comments on the plot. The interweaving of montage, sound design and the superb performance by the lead actress Circe Lethem makes Retrospekt into an immersive cinematic experience.