Psychobitch

For me this was thoroughly entertaining, great story.

So Marius academically is the school brains that is looked up to by other students, outgoing and in with the crowd. Frida however is the opposite, she seems to have a careless attitude, loner who has it turns out is just miss understood ?.

Already mentioned in the synopsis, Marius and Frida are paired up to study, but being so different from each other, easier said then done.

The overall story is excellent, although Marius is intelligent, I am assuming he is fifteen, as all obviously in his year, he struggles to be honest how he feels about Frida, naïve and immature, but its very well acted out.

However there are some serious issues covered amidst the storylines that are concerning for a 13+ audience.

This is a fabulous new film which can't fail to disappoint if you have ever had young love and/or had trouble in deciding which life to lead! Great acting & directing, although some of the camerawork is a bit dodgy. One of the best things about this film is it's got an acceptable run time. Other films I've seen with similar storylines are too short & often only 80mins or so, but this one is 30mins more giving plenty of time to explore the lives of the main characters and let the viewers settle in. The soundtrack is good too and tracks mostly fall at the correct place. Well worth a watch, highly recommended.

Just the same plot, good popular guy who is ashamed of the girl he loves. Good music, lots of snow.

Psychobitch is one of those high school romance stories that aspires to be socially relevant by exploring mental illness and manages to do that to some extent. However, the forced wickedness that one finds in the characters of Frida and Marius make the drama look like it was concocted just to make that point. But, it is still fun to watch as these characters fool around together in a brutal high school setting where making fun of each other and gossiping is the average order. There are a few palpable sequences (some funny, some serious) that you will take away from Psychobitch but anything more than that will be a stretch. TN.

It is a coming of age love triangle situation where opposites attract...

Beneath this though, there are two genuinely interesting characters, whose relationship grows organically and naturally. It was interesting to work out how it was going to be done, and the director did it well.

The other unusual thing is how deeply flawed both main characters were, to the degree that I never really rooted for their relationship, given its cost. Especially in the climactic scene which in any other film would be an 'awww' moment, it had all the same set up, but you know what this will do to other characters (and the avoidable cruelty in it).

It is incredible how cruel a person can be through indecision, and this film definitely showcases that. And for her part Frida went way too far on several occasions. Marius' parents then definitely try to force their son into being the image they want, to the point of just piggy backing his successes and rolling him out at parties to brag.

People are messy, the people in this film were messy. If you like character study type films, it would be worth giving this one a shot.

P. S: Is this communal management of relationships a Norwegian thing? I cringed so much in this film at the fact that people appeared to have a very weak appreciation of boundaries between the public, outer friends and their intimate relationships... The scene with the school nurse encouraging them to talk about their feelings randomly in public (where they all parroted vapid cliche lines to sound like they were contributing) was almost creepy. It may be healthy to discussion emotions and relationship details with others, but not just anyone, in public. Boundaries are healthy... Not to mention the public conversation following a rejected sexual advance... conducted by a friend who apparently was a good friend and had the spurned's best interests at heart (and even permission to do so?). It was none of the business of 90% of the people there.