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Words to describe this mess of a movie: bombastic, muddled, grandiose, grandiloquent, disconnected, emotionally detached. There wasn't any real connection between any of the characters and the scenes of the apostles being called were forced. The writing - so lacking and none of the peoples motivations made any sense, like when Matthew was called. You have to suspend belief to actually make the scene work. Every scene attempted to be a grandiose painting attempting to force grand emotion where none existed, except the scene where Sidney Poitier as Simon took the cross from Jesus near the end. That scene moved me as it felt heartfelt. None of the rest did. The apostles were blank emotionless statues who were mostly just lounging around looking reverent. Even Mary the mother of Jesus only ever looked reverent, even when her son was being tortured and hanging bleeding on the cross. Thank god (pardon the pun) for the fast forward button. To truly see something more real, watch The Chosen. It's free and has more time to flesh out the characters over multiple seasons. That is by far the best portrayal of Jesus and the disciples and followers that I have ever seen. Skip this emotionless mess with no real dialogue to speak of where time stands still and where Jesus still has good hair after being tortured. Like seriously.

I was entranced from the beginning. Small package with a lot to say. The actors added a realness to the characters and I was able to see aspects of myself in the characters at that age - the insecurity and uncertainty mixed with exploration while trying to figure yourself out. While the cast was small, it was perfect, with the 4 main characters all that was needed: the 2 main leads, the clueless dad and that aunt who totally surprised me. I loved her character. While the film left her motivations somewhat open (I was watching a Portuguese subtitled film that I had to use a translator alongside to figure out what they were saying), I could swear that she was playing matchmaker and she was the most aware of anyone. She was like the glue that held everything together and brought all the characters together. That grin of hers after Olle leaves the stage to go to Kevin was the clincher for me on her motivations and made me love her all the more. City boy Kevin initially appeared to be the more self-assured one of he 2 boys but you get to see that like many of us at that age he's actually somewhat insecure where the alcohol helps to get him that extra push to move outside of his comfort zone. He seems a bit of a douche at first but it's all false bravado. By the end you see his journey come around to being more secure with himself and with Olle and you're left wondering how things progressed the rest of the summer. Tobias brings to Olle a sense of innocence and openness brought on by the isolation of trailer life with a transient crowd of people much much older than himself and a clueless every dad who seems emotionally detached from his son. The father is not the focus of the story and there's just enough of him to add context. The writer/director deserves a lot of credit for putting together a short story with all the proper elements that feels just right and that everything would happen just as he wrote it. I would be remiss in not mentioning the cinematography and costuming that was all done just right and makes this film somewhat timeless. This film is a little gem.

I hadn't read the book - didn't know there was one. I was hooked from the beginning. Some people don't like the choppiness but I think it works. The ending left you wanting more - which I do.