Thomas Vinterberg’s latest film Another Round views the consumption of alcohol with a very truthful lens. Neither stigmatizing nor lauding the culture of drinking, the writer/director shows how too much of a good thing is never the answer, but also how cutting yourself off completely can have negative side effects for some. Mads Mikkelsen plays Martin, a high school teacher in Copenhagen, who just doesn’t seem to have any enthusiasm for life anymore. He’s been operating on autopilot for some time now and it’s starting to have an impact on the people around him. One night while out at dinner with three of his friends and co-workers, one of the men brings up psychiatrist Finn Skårderud’s theory that maintaining a blood alcohol content of 0.05% may increase your creativity and overall effectiveness in life. Inspired at just the right moment, Martin decides to have his first drink in years. Denmark is a country where drunkenness is very much part of the culture, especially for youths. We’re never told why Martin has given up alcohol entirely, but we assume it’s to overcorrect his vices from his teen years.

Pleased with the results and his newfound enthusiasm for his interests and the people in his life, Martin urges his friends to accompany him in testing Skårderud’s theory, and the four of them spend their days a little buzzed.

But of course, as with anything helpful and enjoyable, there’s some curiosity about the limit of the substance’s effectiveness. In the case of our characters, the question is raised of, “If a little alcohol makes me better at my job and thrive in my social life, then what would more alcohol do?” Of course, we can assume the answer, but Vinterberg doesn’t really concern himself with how the audience will absorb his narrative, rather the point behind it. Hidden underneath a hooky premise and a conventionally entertaining execution are heady themes about moderation and the deceitful gray area between helpful and harmful. (For those curious, the sweet spot is around 0.1% BAC.) Staying on one side of the line isn’t always an easy thing to do when the device that’s helping you is also enjoyable to partake in. Of course, there are people who should go nowhere near the stuff, and that topic is covered here as well.

Mikkelsen himself is equally as intoxicating. The actor provides yet another one of his nuanced and sturdy performances where you feel like he’s the only one making decisions for his role, not the director. Of course that’s not the case, but Mikkelsen becomes so wrapped up in the emotion of his character, shedding an unexpected tear at the most precious and spontaneous moments, that we totally feel for Martin despite his odd, albeit convincing, arc. Some of the brief shoehorned drama from Martin’s personal life acts like a pebble in our shoe, detracting from the effectiveness of everything else going on in the plot and giving the impression that there are some gaps in this story, exposing the script’s failure to realize certain sentiments. Martin is a changed man because of his experiment, and his relationship with his wife and sons is definitely improving in return, but then one night of excessive drunkenness becomes overblown and suddenly he’s right back where he started.

This seems to oversimplify the idea of drinking–the one thing this film aims to avoid–and becomes the only instance where you feel even a slight tinge of the hackneyed importance of an Afterschool Special. I suppose this could also just be more commentary on the stigma surrounding alcohol rather than the acceptance of its benefits, but it only serves to take us out of the flow of the movie, if only for a moment.

And yet, there’s still a level of competence this film can’t ever let go of. It’s what the best films do. We recognize its flaws, but the rest of the way is so undeniably good that it doesn’t matter.