In A Day and a Half, a policeman finds himself on a journey with a man who has taken his wife hostage to reunite with his daughter. The film is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
A man named Artan walks into a medical center to meet his estranged wife, Louise. He is asked to make an appointment and wait, but despite doing that, he does not get to meet his wife. Finally, he loses his patience and pulls out a gun.
It turns out that he had tried to meet his wife somewhere else, but his wife never showed up. Now, Artan is ready to go to extreme lengths to see his daughter. He questions Louise about their daughter’s whereabouts and takes her hostage.
Artan cannot leave the health center with Louise, as the police arrive and surround the place, so Artan tells the police that he will only speak to them if they send one officer to the center.
As the National Task Force is three hours away, an unarmed police officer named Lukas Malki goes to talk to Artan. Once he ensures that Artan is only carrying a gun and no other weapon, he informs the other officers that Artan is demanding an unmarked car.
Artan lets the other people at the center go, as he has no intention of hurting them. The police give Artan a car, and it is Lukas who drives them to Louise’s parents’ house while Artan holds Louise at gunpoint. Their car is followed by police cars.
Initially, Artan does not trust Lukas. Artan is an immigrant, and he believes that the police consider him a terrorist. He fears that he will be shot dead the moment the police get an opportunity. However, Lukas continues to be calm while dealing with him.
As they drive to Louise’s parents’ house to meet Cassandra, Louise and Artan’s daughter, Lukas gets to know their story. Louise had an episode of psychosis after giving birth to Cassandra. Due to that, she was not there for her daughter, and she ended up making mistakes that harmed Cassandra.
Artan did not understand her illness. He had to raise their daughter on his own and accused Louise of neglecting their daughter. He ended up cheating on Louise when she went to a treatment clinic. As a result, their marriage fell apart.
Louise’s father owned their apartment, and he threw Artan out. An angry Artan came to the apartment one day and pushed his father-in-law, who ended up tripping over his own shoes and falling. Louise’s father then sued Artan and lied in court about Artan hitting him.
Artan was charged with assault. He went to prison for three months, and Louise got their daughter’s custody. Artan not only lost his daughter but was also left with no place to live. Artan tried to meet Louise at a cafe after that, but she never showed up.
This led to a desperate Artan showing up at the health center with a gun and taking Louise hostage to meet Cassandra. When they reach Louise’s parents’ house, Artan asks Lukas to bring his daughter to the car.
As Artan has a gun, Lukas is reluctant to do so. Louise’s father wants to speak to Artan, so Artan makes Lukas take them to his garage. Artan refuses to accept Louise’s father’s apology, who wants Artan to forget everything that happened in the past.
It turns out that Louise’s father is a bigot who never wanted his daughter to marry an Arab. He starts insulting Artan, even though he is holding Louise at gunpoint. To make matters worse, Louise’s mother also arrives there.
Louise’s mother shames Louise for her body and the life that she lives. She even blames her for everything that is happening. Soon after, Cassandra is brought there, and Artan realizes that she has forgotten him.
He now wants to take his daughter and Louise away. Louise’s father had slipped away when Artan was busy with his daughter. He now returns with a gun and tries to shoot Artan, who is standing very close to the toddler.
Lukas fights him and takes away the gun. Although Lukas is not willing to take Cassandra with them because Artan has a gun and he does not want to put her in danger, he is forced to do so because of Louise’s father.
Artan now wants to take his family to Tirana in Albania and asks Lukas to arrange flight tickets for them. However, no airline is willing to let an armed man fly with them. A negotiator with the National Task Force also tries to reason with Artan, but he refuses to listen.
Furthermore, the Albanian Ambassador in Sweden offers Artan safe conduct to Tirana if he surrenders now, but Artan does not want to leave without his family and rejects the offer, much to Louise and Lukas’ disappointment.
Artan plans to take his family to Poland and wants the police to arrange a ferry for them. Lukas and Louise try to convince him to take the ambassador’s offer, but Artan, who has nothing more to lose and does not want to leave without his family, does not budge and continues to hold his wife hostage.
A Day and a Half ending explained in detail:
How does Lukas reason with Artan?
While Lukas drives Artan and his family to the nearest dock, he offers coffee to Artan and Louise, but a paranoid Artan refuses to drink anything given by the police. Lukas then tells Artan his story to show him that he understands his situation.
Lukas is divorced and has two children. His son lives with his ex-wife and does not want anything to do with him, as Lukas cheated on his wife, which broke their family and led to the divorce.
Lukas wants his son back, but he has left the choice to him. He tries his best to be a good father and do the right thing. All he can do is hope that he will be forgiven one day. He was supposed to celebrate his son’s birthday the next day, but that is not possible anymore.
Lukas had a choice, but he did not make the right one. He tells Artan that Cassandra is the most important thing for Artan now. He should think about his choices and how he wants to be remembered as a father.
What is Louise’s side of the story?
When a few children throw eggs at their car, everyone inside gets startled. This leads to Louise asking Artan when will he stop. A frustrated and scared Louise admits that she hates herself and that she keeps taking pills because she is scared that she might have another episode.
Her life is a nightmare that never ends. She tells him that she did not leave him and Cassandra by choice. She never wanted to hurt her daughter either. She was sick, and Artan was not there when she needed him the most. At a time like this, he betrayed her and broke her heart.
Does Artan get to leave Sweden with his family?
By the time they reach the dock, it has already been a day and a half since Artan took Louise hostage. While the police negotiate with the ferry’s captain, Artan gives Lukas his phone to talk to his son, as it is his son’s birthday. Lukas and his son’s conversation makes Artan cry and think about his choices.
He then asks Lukas to let him speak to Louise alone. Now that Louise and Artan have talked about their problems, they understand each other better. Artan tells Louise that he loves Cassandra, and she gives him a necklace that has Cassandra’s heartbeat engraved on it.
Louise tells Artan that she did not mean to avoid him. She was going to meet him, but she ended up falling asleep. Louise thinks that they cannot be together again, but she will let Artan meet Cassandra. Artan also tells her that he does not have anyone except her.
The two of them cry together. Artan empties his gun and hands it over to Louise, who throws it out of the car. Artan and Louise embrace each other for the last time. The police then drag Artan out of the car. Artan is arrested, but he smiles at Louise while he is taken away.
