Polite People (2011) Plot Summary Explained

Lárus agrees because his dying father asks him to take on the project. His father believes reviving the slaughterhouse is essential for the small town's survival, and Lárus decides to leave his city engineering job to fulfill this dying wish.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes show Lárus working in the city, establishing his career before his father's request changes everything.

• lárus
• father
• dying request
• slaughterhouse
• engineer

At the funeral, Lárus's father tells his mother to stay away from his children, indicating deep family tension and estrangement. This suggests the parents had a difficult relationship, and the father wanted to protect his children from something about their mother.

Foreshadowing: The father's request that Lárus return to the town hints at underlying family conflict.

• father
• funeral
• mother
• children
• family conflict

The nearby slaughterhouse, worried about competition, convinces the bank manager to expose financial fraud committed by Mayor Markell. This leads to Markell being questioned by police and eventually sacked from the council. He tries to use his political connections to stall the investigation.

Foreshadowing: The power dynamics between the slaughterhouses and local government were established early in the film.

• mayor markell
• fraud
• bank manager
• slaughterhouse
• political scandal

Hrafnkell decides to stay with his wife despite previously threatening to leave her for the schoolteacher. When he sees an opportunity to become mayor during the political chaos, he chooses political ambition over personal desire and remains with his wife to improve his chances of winning the election.

Foreshadowing: Hrafnkell's jealousy and willingness to manipulate his personal relationships was established through his conflicts with Lárus.

• hrafnkell
• mayor
• wife
• election
• political ambition

Markell and Lárus develop a tourism project using abandoned farms and share this idea during their campaign. However, the member of parliament they trusted betrays them by giving this same idea to Hrafnkell, allowing Hrafnkell to use it in the candidate debate and gain an advantage.

Foreshadowing: The political alliance between Markell and the MP was shown when the MP helped stall the fraud investigation.

• member of parliament
• betrayal
• tourism project
• debate
• political intrigue

The slaughterhouse project fails to achieve its goals. While the film ends with Markell being released from prison and resuming his schemes around the slaughterhouse, the main outcome is that Lárus's attempt to rescue the community through the slaughterhouse does not succeed as intended.

Foreshadowing: The constant political battles and betrayals throughout the film set up the project's ultimate failure.

• slaughterhouse
• project
• failure
• lárus
• markell

Lárus runs for mayor at Markell's prompting, as part of Markell's scheme to maintain control over the slaughterhouse project. Markell sees Lárus as a pawn who can help advance his own interests while appearing to support the town's development.

Foreshadowing: Markell's manipulation of Lárus was established through their earlier collaboration on the tourism project.

• lárus
• mayor
• markell
• campaign
• election

Hrafnkell wins the mayoral election and takes office, but his wife discovers he committed adultery. This personal scandal threatens his political legitimacy, though he remains mayor despite the indiscretion being exposed.

Foreshadowing: The love triangle between Hrafnkell, the schoolteacher, and Lárus built tension throughout the narrative.

• hrafnkell
• affair
• mayor
• wife
• scandal

Markell is released from prison after a few months, likely due to his political connections and influence. Upon release, he immediately resumes plotting around the slaughterhouse, showing he hasn't abandoned his schemes.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes showed Markell using his connections with the member of parliament to stall the fraud investigation.

• markell
• prison
• release
• political connections
• scheming

Markell and Lárus scheme to buy abandoned farms in the town and develop them as a tourism project. This plan ties economic development to political maneuvering, but it becomes compromised when the member of parliament betrays them by sharing the idea with Hrafnkell.

Foreshadowing: The economic desperation of the town was established through the struggling slaughterhouse.

• tourism
• abandoned farms
• markell
• lárus
• development

Lárus begins dating the schoolteacher after his daughter comes to stay with him in the town. This relationship complicates his standing with residents and angers Hrafnkell, the schoolteacher's former lover, who becomes jealous and threatens to leave his wife.

Foreshadowing: The daughter's arrival introduces family dynamics that intersect with town affairs.

• schoolteacher
• lárus
• daughter
• romance
• hrafnkell