Avalon

The films most compelling component is the main character Janne, really well performed by Johannes Brost, who's haggard face carries the plot in a manner, sending just the right signals of remorse and self destruction. The Director, Axel Petersén, must be the most promising of the Swedish new talents. This movie is not for the Batman fans, who have gone to American films schools. They will miss all the nuances when they are looking for the turning points, according to Laurie Hutzler or John Truby. The filmmaker knows it all but decides to, brave as he is, let open threads remain open, giving the viewer a chance to form his or hers own fantasy outcome and interpretations. The feeling you are left with is a genuine despair and the main characters sincere sadness over the deeds he has been a part of. This is a movie for profound existential contemplation of the lack of empathy that follows a shallow and superficial society. Well done!

I had high expectations of this movie since it has gotten great reviews but it made me completely disappointed.

The characters are unconnected and we don't get much answers on who the characters are and why they are doing what they do.

It is just a bunch of situations with no connection, like a drama version of Family Guy.

The movie doesn't have any real plot and it feels unfinished.

The actors are OK but after seeing this movie I just thought: What was that?

Can't recommend it to anyone

As a big fan of Nordic cinema I'm always interested in new names and faces. Well... Axel Petersén is a new name to me and he certainly seems to have at least a few good ideas, but all in all I hope he will choose better friends for his next movie. This one was just boring and pretentious.

The protagonists (all of them) lack any credibility, they're only skin deep, and they run around, act and react like headless chickens. There's no way you can relate to anyone of them. Nothing wrong with an experimental approach but the experiment in this movie (for instance the ridiculous 'Avalon' discotheque sequence) is a kind of 'worst of the sixties'. Apart from that the camera-work was the most annoying since the invention of dogma 95.

Although some of Pederséns friends seem beyond suspicion... I was surprised to see the name of Hoyte van Hoytema passing by in the 'thanks' region... please listen better to his advice next time. And how in Privatdetektiven Kant's name did Carl Johan De Geer get involved with this? What a waste of real (experimental) talent.

About halfway through it suddenly struck me that this was like watching a Dutch movie... now you know where the title of this review comes from.

And by the way, the subject 'man goes berserk when confronted with unexpected horror' was handled a lot more plausible and creepy in the 2007 Danish movie 'Hvid Nat'.

Well, the movie itself is absolutely great. However, I have seen a lot of movies, and this one really has the best scene of them all. I saw this one in a movie theater back in the day, and I still remember it like it was yesterday. The scene where the main character, "Janne" enters the empty dance floor at his club and dances to Avalon by Roxy Music. I mean, come on, it really doesn't get any better. I was completely blown away. Absolutely gobsmacked. Still to this day, it's the best, most suggestive scene i have ever seen. I loved the movie over all, and that scene alone made it worth watching. Dim the light, see it on a big screen and be prepared for emotions!

According to reports, the behavior of Swedish nouveau riches in Båstad is out of this world and makes their American and even Russian counterparts seem cultivated. In this environment 60+ Janne starts a nightclub.

He's used to his emptiness and doesn't think much about it. This is what life is to him and it always has. Until something happens which forces him to think and feel. And the world is sinking for both Janne and his co-workers. Life is not a draw at all; it is a terrible loss and it obviously has always been.

This is a shaking story and Johannes Brost and Peter Carlberg are great, but tremendous is Léonore Ekstrand. This is a script with no hope, but a film by Axel Petersén, which is part of a higher quality for Swedish movies during this last year.