Character Relationship Map: Upperdog

Characters

• Axel (played by Hermann Sabado) — protagonist

  Axel is a former soldier whose wartime actions and a published photograph leave him under scrutiny after returning to Norway. He struggles with domestic responsibility, reacts angrily when Yanne revea...

• Maria (played by Agnieszka Grochowska) — protagonist

  Maria is a temporary maid working in a wealthy household where she is treated with suspicion despite trying to help. She meets Per and shares conversations about loneliness, then discovers a photograp...

• Per (played by Mads Sjøgård Pettersen) — supporting

  Per is a student and photographer who meets Maria and talks with her about Norway, loneliness, and the sadness beneath its comfortable surface. Through this connection, he helps illuminate Maria's emo...

• Yanne (played by Bang Chau) — supporting

  Yanne is Axel's separated sister, adopted away from him in childhood. After recognizing him in a photograph, she contacts him through Maria and eventually explains their shared mother and memories of...

• Susanne Holmboe (played by Yngvild Støen Grotmol) — supporting

  Susanne Holmboe is a journalist who joins Axel's military operation outside Meymaneh at her own risk. Her presence places her close to the roadblock and the incident in which a soldier is wounded, con...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Axel → Susanne Holmboe (Professional Operation Associate) — They are connected through the wartime operation and its public aftermath.

  Susanne Holmboe, a journalist, joins Axel's military operation at her own risk and is present during the roadblock incident.

• Maria → Axel (Professional Employer And Maid) — Their household relationship becomes the indirect bridge to Axel's family revelation.

  Maria works as a temporary maid in the wealthy household connected to Axel, where she discovers a photograph of a boy resembling Yanne's younger broth...

• Axel → Yanne (Family Sibling) — Separated siblings whose reunion destabilizes Axel's understanding of his identity.

  Yanne realizes that Axel is the brother from whom she was separated through adoption. She tells him that they shared a mother and hid together in a cl...

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Maria → Per (Social Acquaintance) — They share reflective conversations about emotional isolation.

  Maria meets Per, and they discuss Norway, loneliness, and the sadness beneath comfortable surroundings.

• Yanne → Maria (Alliance Messenger) — Yanne relies on Maria to initiate contact with Axel.

  Yanne asks Maria to leave Axel a message without revealing Yanne's identity.

Story Analysis

The film follows Axel and Maria through war trauma, social isolation, and the painful discovery of a lost family bond.

Plot Progression

1. The Photograph of War — Axel recounts a dangerous operation outside Meymaneh, where a soldier is wounded and later dies. After Axel returns to Norway, a photograph brings the operation into public view and makes him defend h...
2. Uneasy Norwegian Comfort — Axel struggles with domestic responsibility and emotional uncertainty after returning home. Maria enters a wealthy household, while social gatherings reveal loneliness beneath outward comfort.
3. The Image of a Lost Family — Maria meets Per and begins to perceive the sadness beneath comfortable surroundings. Her discovery of a photograph connects Axel to Yanne and changes the direction of the story.
4. The Siblings Reunited — Yanne uses Maria to contact Axel without initially revealing herself. Their meeting exposes a shared childhood, and Axel responds with anger, shock, and the possibility of seeking professional help.
5. A Shot Without Certainty — During a hunting trip, Axel fires before properly identifying his target. Another hunter's criticism leaves Axel defensive and reinforces the story's unresolved questions about responsibility and matu...