SEX, HOPE AND LOVE/ SEX HOPP & KARLEK

Sweden, 2005, 93 minutes, Colour.
Krister Henriksson, Ing- Marie Carlsson.
Directed by Lisa Ohlin.

Sex, Hope and Love is a Swedish drama with touches of comedy, wry comedy. At its centre is a very successful TV personality who hosts a reality show called Sex, Hope and Love. When his father dies, he returns to his home town after many years and has to confront his past while having to reassess his whole life. There is his brother who stayed at home. There is the middle-aged woman who was his sweetheart when he was young and whom he left behind. She is now married to a very good man but her teenage daughter is rebellious.

The film makes great use of the atmosphere of the TV reality show, its inanity, its attempts to offer profound wisdom but highlights its superficial nature. It critiques the cult of celebrity. However, the film focuses on the middle-aged woman and the effect of the return of the celebrity to the town, on her own emotions, the quality of her marriage, a secret about her daughter. The film ends with most of the characters having learnt some wisdom and some acceptance.

This is the kind of story that Ingmar Bergman might have told in the past – but more sombrely and without the gaudy trappings.