Final Act

FINAL ACT is based on Noel Coward's play "Waiting in the Wings". Even the smallest events turn into mind-blowing dramas at The Set, a retirement home for former actresses in England. Jealousy and madness flare into a firework display of toxicity when ex-primadonna Lotta Henderson (Birgitte Federspiel) moves in. A slap in the face of The Set's leading star in her own eyes, May Davenport (Mime Fønss), who has had a lifelong rivalry with Lotta both on stage and off. The daily dramas reach dizzying heights when a scandalous journalist (Anne Marie Helger) gains access like a wolf in sheep's clothing. A stunt that has a not-so-clever connection to the ladies' burning desire to be granted a veranda. The matter is raised to the highest level of the home's tough board of directors, and The Set's secretary Perry (Holger Juul Hansen) comes under justified suspicion of skulduggery. But this is where May Davenport's diva talent comes in as a sure trump card...

Directed by Edward Fleming, Final Act leans on a strong ensemble — Erni Arneson, Jytte Breuning, Lily Broberg — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about comedy titles of 1987.