Fear Me Not

Mikael stops working and decides to reevaluate his life. He moves to stay at home with his wife Sigrid and their daughter Selma, unsure what comes next. The decision marks the first shift away from his previous routine.

Sigrid's brother Frederick, a scientist, begins recruiting subjects for an experimental antidepressant. The aim is to test potential effects and safety, while subjects are observed for side effects. The project introduces a dangerous new path into Mikael's world.

Mikael decides to volunteer for the drug testing, concealing his participation from Sigrid and Selma. He hopes the treatment will help him feel different without the burdens of his current life. His decision ties him to the experiment and pulls him away from his domestic life.

During the early days of the trial, Mikael keeps a diary detailing his daily feelings and the perceived effects of the pills. The entries reveal his growing sense of freedom and loosening boundaries. The diary becomes a record of his shifting internal state.

As the medication takes hold, Mikael experiences a sense of freedom, as if rules no longer apply to him. He increasingly acts on impulses without considering the consequences. The sense of liberation pulls him away from his family and ordinary life.

Feeling detached, Mikael leaves the family home and travels to his mother's old rural residence. The change of scenery underscores his withdrawal from his life with Sigrid and Selma. The isolation foreshadows the more troubling acts to come.

Frederick's team shuts down the experiment after several subjects, including Mikael, begin showing aggressive and violent behavior. The safety concerns force a pause and a reevaluation of the drug's effects. Mikael's oscillation between euphoria and coercive behavior becomes increasingly hard to control.

Even after the halt, Mikael refuses to abandon the drug's allure and secretly keeps taking placebo to sustain the sense of freedom. He starts crossing boundaries he previously would have respected, hurting others in the process. The deception deepens as his actions become more reckless.

Mikael's mood turns hostile toward his wife as he subjects her to gaslighting and a dangerous shower incident, turning up the water heater. The confrontation marks a drastic breakdown of trust and safety at home. Sigrid begins to realize the peril she and Selma are in.

In a disturbing spree, he releases rats into the bedroom while Sigrid sleeps and coerces a young woman during a ride, while also seducing Frederick's wife. These acts illustrate how the pills' influence has corrupted his empathy and boundaries. The consequences ripple through the lives of people close to him.

Frederik reveals that Mikael has been taking placebo the entire time, denying him the real drug's effects. The revelation undermines Mikael's certainty about his new identity and momentarily halts his desire to confess. Selma's innocence threatens to expose him, adding tension to the revelation.

Selma reads Mikael's diary and threatens to tell her mother, prompting a panic-driven confrontation. Mikael locks her in the sauna, while Sigrid, waking from a sleeping pill, confronts him and he punches her, locking her in the chest freezer. The family is plunged into a desperate struggle as Mikael decides to flee.

After visiting his mother in a nursing home, Mikael stands at a train station, expressing sadness about leaving his family. He admits he is still trying to figure out when and why things started to go wrong, but the memories remain painful. The film ends on a note of unresolved guilt and lingering mystery about his choices.