The movie Another Round (Druk) is a Danish movie that explores the pros and cons of day-drinking through the eyes of four middle-aged high school teachers in a malaise of being middle-aged. The drinking is done purely in the name of science to find the perfect level of alcohol that should be coursing through their bodies throughout the day.

That’s the movie, four men going about their day, sneaking sips as the levels of alcohol in their bloodstreams slowly increase from 0.05% to 0.10% to…

Actually, the movie mainly focuses on Martin, played by the great Mads Mikkelsen who has forged an interesting career by seamlessly appearing in tent pole franchises like James Bond and Indiana Jones while remaining in his hometown of Copenhagen to work with European directors like Nicolas Winding Refn and Thomas Vinterberg.

Vinterberg’s Another Round is one of their collaborations. It was a movie inspired by Vinterberg’s daughter, Ida, who would regale her father about the teenage Danish drinking scene at her high school. She was even set to star as Mikkelsen’s daughter in the movie until she was tragically killed in a car crash four days into filming.

Vinterberg didn’t know whether to shutter the production or even if he wanted to leave his house. But like many artists he found solace in his work, refocusing the tenor of the movie onto Martin’s character, even looking for light at the end of the tunnel for the character as well as himself.

Martin does not lose a child in the movie, but he does see his life and marriage falling apart. With the help of his friends and a controlled experiment, he begins to feel better. But is it fleeting? Will Sazeracs help?

The Sazerac is a Southern cousin to the Manhattan but with a touch of hair-raising absinthe instead of sweet vermouth. It’s the official drink of New Orleans, which goes down quite easily as the gang dances to The Meters, a band from the Big Easy, a band that knew how to lay down a funky R&B vibe. In fact, you can do no wrong listening to “Cissy Strut” or any other song from Here Comes The Meter Man, the perfect album to play if you are knocking back a few while ironing clothes or trying to remember a dance move.

FUN FACT: In the above scene Martin is the only one who isn’t dancing, which is ironic considering his character is a retired jazz ballet dancer, and Mikkelsen actually was a professional dancer for ten years before he started taking acting classes.