Seattle International Film Festival 2023: Film #9
There's much to admire in this dry and irreverent Swedish Fleabag, not least of all its bizarre use of comic fantasy elements and some excellent lighting and camerawork. However, whilst the success of the jarring changes in tone will ultimately be determined by the taste of the individual viewer, they weren't always working for me. As in, almost all of the in-scene deadpan responses resulted in a chuckle, but the tragic elements underpinning the broader narrative (e.g. the suicide attempt and the death of a child) were almost completely undermined by unnecessary comic touches happening in the background.
Synopsis: Successful cartoonist Lisa and her siblings gather at their parents' farm for the first time in over ten years. The parents want only one of them to inherit the forest, which has been in the family's possessions for generations.