What Happened to Monday

What Happened to Monday (known in several territories as Seven Sisters) is a 2017 dystopian science fiction action film directed by Tommy Wirkola and stars Noomi Rapace, Glenn Close and Willem Dafoe. It was written by Max Botkin and Kerry Williamson.[8] The plot follows a family of identical septuplets (seven genetically identical girls) who live in a world where due to overpopulation each household is allowed only one child. When one of the sisters goes missing, the others must find her while remaining unknown to the outside world.

What Happened to Monday
Netflix release poster
Directed byTommy Wirkola
Produced by
Written by
Starring
Music byChristian Wibe
CinematographyJosé David Montero
Edited byMartin Stoltz
Production
company
  • SND
  • Vendome Pictures
  • Raffaella Productions
  • Nexus
  • Umedia
Distributed by
Release date
  • August 5, 2017 (2017-08-05) (Locarno)
  • August 18, 2017 (2017-08-18) (United States)
Running time
123 minutes[4]
Country
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20 million[6]
Box office$28 million[7][2]

The film was released theatrically in Europe and Asia, with Netflix distributing it in the United States, United Kingdom, and Latin America on August 18, 2017.[3][9] The film received mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

Around 2043, overpopulation has caused a worldwide crisis, resulting in a strict one-child policy enforced by the Child Allocation Bureau. All but the eldest children are put into cryosleep. Electronic bracelets track all citizens.

Karen Settman dies while giving birth to identical septuplet sisters. Their grandfather, Terrence, names them after the days of the week and trains them to pose as a single individual named after their mother, leaving the house only on the day of their name. Terrence ensures they share information daily and replicate any physical accidents that alter their appearance. The sisters use wigs and makeup to cover any identifying features. After a young Thursday sneaks out of the apartment and injures herself skateboarding, Terrence amputates part of the index finger of each sister to mimic her injury.

In 2073, Monday prepares her disguise, nervous about giving a presentation. At a checkpoint, Monday runs into Adrian Knowles, a C.A.B. agent who flirts with her. At the bank, Monday's co-worker, Jerry, a competitor for a promotion, hints at blackmailing her.

When Monday fails to return home, Tuesday retraces her steps. Tuesday learns that Monday got the promotion and met Jerry at a bar. Before she can investigate further, C.A.B. agents detain her and cut off her communications. In the C.A.B. facility, Adrian sees Tuesday escorted to a cell, where she meets Nicolette Cayman, head of the Bureau and a candidate for parliament. Cayman says she knows about Tuesday's siblings, and, when Tuesday offers a bribe, Cayman reveals Monday offered the same deal. Cayman orders C.A.B. agents to assassinate Tuesday's sisters.

C.A.B. agents use a severed eye to bypass a retinal scanner at the Settman home. The sisters kill the agents, but Sunday is killed. Learning the eye is Tuesday's, the sisters suspect Jerry may have sold them out. The next day, Wednesday leaves without disguising herself and confronts Jerry. He reveals that "Karen" got the promotion when she sent millions of euros to Cayman to fund her campaign. After a C.A.B. sniper kills Jerry, Wednesday flees his apartment.

The others remotely guide Wednesday to safety but are interrupted when Adrian shows up at the sisters' apartment, concerned about "Karen". Surmising that Adrian has a relationship with one of them, Thursday convinces Saturday to leave with him. Saturday, who was a virgin, has sex with Adrian at his apartment. She covertly links their bracelets, as suggested by Friday, allowing Friday to hack into the C.A.B. On a video feed, the sisters believe they have found Monday in a holding cell. Meanwhile, C.A.B. agents corner and kill Wednesday. After Adrian leaves his apartment, C.A.B. agents arrive and kill Saturday after she tells her siblings Monday was dating Adrian. The sisters' apartment is raided simultaneously by a C.A.B. squad led by Joe, the head of security of C.A.B. Admitting that she cannot survive on her own, Friday sacrifices herself by blowing up their apartment to allow Thursday to escape and rescue Monday.

Adrian hears about the incident and rushes back to the Settman apartment. Thursday confronts him in his car, blaming him for her sisters' deaths. Adrian now realizes "Karen" is an assumed identity for several siblings and claims to love Monday, whom he agrees to help rescue. Adrian sneaks Thursday into C.A.B. headquarters in a body bag. She secretly records a child undergoing cryosleep. Instead of being frozen, the child is incinerated. Adrian and Thursday discover Tuesday inside the cell with one of her eyes removed. They search for Monday, only to discover she has sold them out to Cayman.

At Cayman's campaign fundraiser, Thursday and Monday fight in a women's restroom, with Thursday accidentally shooting Monday. Meanwhile, Tuesday and Adrian broadcast Thursday's video footage of the child's incineration, leaving everyone at the event shocked and causing Cayman to faint in horror. The now traumatized crowd directs their attention on Cayman, who insists she did what was necessary (claiming that the extra siblings never suffered), and angrily confronts Thursday, choking her, before her bodyguards pull her off Thursday. Monday comes out of the restroom brandishing a gun. Joe shoots Monday, thinking she intends to kill Cayman, and Adrian kills Joe.

As the crowd flees, Monday reveals to Thursday that she is pregnant and asks her to not let the C.A.B. take her unborn twins. Thursday realizes Monday sacrificed her sisters, replicating their grandfather cutting off their fingers, in order to protect her children. Monday dies from her wounds. The Child Allocation Act is abolished, and Cayman faces the death penalty. Thursday, Adrian, and Tuesday (with a new artificial eye) watch Monday's and Adrian's twins develop in an artificial womb. Tuesday declares Terry to be her new name, while Thursday declares hers to be Karen (henceforth becoming the "real" Karen Settman). As the camera dollies out, hundreds of babies are seen crying in one enormous ward, as nursing staff care for them.

Cast
  • Noomi Rapace as the Settman Siblings – Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday – septuplets sharing the identity of Karen Settman, a banker
    • Clara Read as the Young Settman Siblings
  • Willem Dafoe as Terrence Settman, the siblings' grandfather
  • Glenn Close as Nicolette Cayman, the head of the Child Allocation Bureau (C.A.B.)
  • Marwan Kenzari as Adrian Knowles, a C.A.B. security guard
  • Nadiv Molcho as Young Doctor, Terrence Settman's daughters private Doctor
  • Christian Rubeck as Joe, the head of Security of the C.A.B.
  • Pål Sverre Hagen as Jerry, Karen's coworker
  • Tomiwa Edun as Eddie, the septuplets' doorman
  • Cassie Clare as Zaquia, a C.A.B. agent
  • Robert Wagner as Charles Benning, a journalist

Production

The film shot in Romania over 94 days.[6]

Release

What Happened to Monday premiered at the 2017 Locarno Festival.[10] The streaming rights for the film were purchased by Netflix.[3]

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 58% of 36 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 5.8/10.[11] According to Metacritic, which calculated a weighted average score of 47 out of 100 based on 12 critics, the film received "mixed or average reviews".[12]

Jessica Kiang of Variety called it a "ludicrous, violent, amusingly dumb sci-fi actioner". Kiang said that, although it is full of plot holes and Rapace's characters are thinly characterized, it is likely to become a cult film.[5]

References
  1. John Hopewell, Elsa Keslassy (May 6, 2015). "Cannes: SND Takes Noomi Rapace Sci-Fi Actioner 'Monday?'". Variety.
  2. "What Happened to Monday (2016)". Box Office Mojo.
  3. Setoodeh, Ramin; Lang, Brent. "Toronto: Netflix Buys 'What Happened to Monday?' With Noomi Rapace (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  4. "WHAT HAPPENED TO MONDAY". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  5. Kiang, Jessica (6 August 2017). "Locarno Film Review: 'What Happened to Monday?'". Variety. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  6. Ford, Rebecca (November 5, 2016). "Tommy Wirkola Talks Directing Noomi Rapace as Seven Identical Twins in 'What Happened to Monday?' (Q&A)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  7. "What Happened to Monday?". The Numbers. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  8. Richford, Rhonda (31 July 2015). "Willem Dafoe Joins Glenn Close, Noomi Rapace in 'What Happened to Monday'". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 August 2015. The Oscar-nominee boards the sci-fi thriller as it starts principal photography in Romania.
  9. "'Seven Sisters' Trailer Shows off Noomi Rapace's Strong 'Orphan Black' Vibes". 2 June 2017.
  10. Kohn, Eric (2 August 2017). "Isabelle Huppert, Noomi Rapace, and Bodybuilders: 7 Must-See Summer Movies From the 2017 Locarno Film Festival". IndieWire. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  11. "What Happened to Monday (2017)". Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  12. "What Happened to Monday Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
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