Writer: Lukas Moodyson
Cast: Alexandra Dahlström, Rebecka Liljeberg, Erica Carlson, Mathias Rust, Stefan Hörberg
Genre: Teen, Drama, Romance
Elin is beautiful and popular, but bored to death in the small-town piece of Sweden her hometown Åmål is. She's impulsive, longing for everything there's to discover in the world and she fears nothing more than growing old in Åmål, even thought being like everyone else comes a close second. Agnes sure isn't like everyone else. Her family moved there 18 months ago, she's sad and friendless, and secretly in love with Elin.
We follow these two teenagers lives, comparable as each wants their life to be something else, from their opposite social status in a pre-millennium small town of Scandinavia. Small towns with their teenagers getting wasted at home alone parties, with their floating crushes and the small minded ideals challenging everyone. A place where outsiders like Agnes never fits in and thrill-seekers like Elin never get satisfied. Moodyson have done a real nice job describing growing up in such a town, despite having to use a couple of cliches. I don't mind. There's usually a good reason something becomes a cliche in the first place.
Most of all its a story told with awareness of what he's trying to tell. He could so easily have pitched it as the lesbian girl trying to fit in or as a romantic movie. Thankfully he didn't, and instead we're witnessing a tale of youth, growth, heartbreak, love and everything else a boring small town has to offer, and then some, without going overboard, without pushing an agenda or creating a fantasy. It's just a simple story, told with a lot of talent and even more heart.
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