EXCLUSIVE: Janus Films has set a January 30, 2026 release date for Icelandic director Hlynur Pálmason’s family drama The Love That Remains and unveiled its trailer for the film.
The work captures a year in the life of a family as the parents navigate their separation. Through both playful and heartfelt moments, it portrays the bittersweet essence of faded love and shared memories amidst the changing seasons.
Its subject and scope feel like a departure from Pálmason’s previous features spanning Winter Brothers (2017), A White, White Day (2019) and Denmark-set missionary drama Godland (2022), which premiered in Cannes Un Certain Regard and went on to be shortlisted as Iceland’s candidate for 2023 Oscars.
The director counters, however, that there is a connection.
“I don’t like to have too many preconceived intentions because I want my films to be honest, spontaneous, and as close as possible to the actual human experience. The topics are always broad and numerous,” says Pálmason.
“This film is about nature, about what we build, re-build or destroy, about what unites and divides us, miscommunication and conflicting feelings. But it is above all about family, that is the core of the film and its beating heart – which is a natural extension of my previous films, both short and long.”
The film world premiered in the non-competitive Cannes Premiere section in May, with its canine star, sheepdog Panda, winning the Palm Dog. It was selected in August as Iceland’s entry to the Best International Feature Film category for the 98th Academy Awards.
The Love That Remains is produced by Anton Máni Svansson of Iceland’s Still Vivid and Katrin Pors of Denmark’s Snowglobe.
The cast includes Saga Garðarsdóttir (Woman at War), Sverrir Gudnason (Borg vs. McEnroe), Ída Mekkín Hlynsdóttir (Godland), Þorgils Hlynsson (Nest), and Grímur Hlynsson (Nest).