The Restaurant

I have been glued for 4 days so far. My husband and I have owned 4 restaurants, so, a lot of this hits very close to home. However, I would have been hooked even if we didn't.

Great characters, costumes, scripts, history and human drama. . Thanks to all involved to bring this to our screens.

Just binged watched seasons 1, 2, and 3. Loved the entire series. Great cast, writing, acting. Such a wonderful love story, too. Really enjoyed watching the history of post war through civil rights and protest era. Watching fashions change over time was spot on, too. Loved loved loved this series!!!!

A very absorbing look at a fancy Swedish family over several decades -- the show is well-written, nicely directed, and very well acted. However, it's dark. Very dark. This family either has the worst luck ever, or this is just life in Sweden, where every moment is fraught with negativity and unhappiness. Still, if you can stand watching something tragic happen every episode, and you don't get overly involved with the characters -- or you'll end up as thoroughly depressed as they are -- the rewards are plentiful. One odd note: this family seems to have found the secret to eternal life. Although the show starts in 1945 and goes on for another two and a half decades, the characters don't age. They all look exactly as they did when the show starts. Some of them get new haircuts, some get new clothes, but the secret to eternal life seems to be to run a restaurant in Sweden and suffer misfortune every week.

The plots and subplots are great, the character development is great, the acting is great, the depiction of the periods are excellent, the social connotations spot on. Someone called this "a Swedish Downton Abbey". Pretty close. Totally worth the time. First season free with Amazon Prime. At the end of it I was more than willing to pay for a Sundance subscription just to keep watching, so beware :)

This series starts with the end of WWII in Sweden, We meet a family of two brothers, a sister and mother who run the formal restaurant and follow them and others thru divorces, betrayals, triumphs and scandals involving a cast of characters not quite as large as "Downton Abbey" but equally as engaging.

The cinematography beautifullly captures the vintage post WWII era similar to "The Godfather II" with very careful framing, lighting and camera movement. The production quality as well as acting is on par with any top notch Masterpiece Theatre production. It's plotting isn't as crass as "Dallas" but it's very much a family drama with triangulation conflicts every which way you can imagine. The pacing is a tad slow and languid but that gives you time to admire the sets, costumes and lighting as well as marvel at where they got all the 1950's era cars they pack the streets with during outdoor scenes.

I'm astonished I'm writing the first review of this show on this site. One month of Sundance Now is only 5 bucks and it's the best money you'll spend to watch this series. This is a very high quality show I'm going to regret finishing. I pray it goes to season 3.