Psychobitch

Marius is a good boy. He's good in school, he always does what he's told and what's expected of him. We as the audience are never exactly told if he's happy with that, but we suspect that he's not. In comes Frida, the new girl in school who, rumour has it, had tried to commit suicide. She's the exact opposite, she never does what she's told and shows some very rude behaviour. For a class project, a techer asks Marius to team up with Frida and although he's not thrilled, he can't say no., so he awkwardly tries to engage with Frida. Being strong-willed, Frida plays with Marius and makes him do things that are completely against his nature, even things that are forbidden. Not to spoil anything, you can guess that a teen romance eventlually leads to them falling in love, not without complications like the girl Marius used to date before he met Frida.

The core message of the movie is that our society wishes for children to be like Marius, but in order to be happy they need to develop their own character and do what makes them happy, even if it doesn't always make their parents happy.

My main criticism is that both the characters of Marius and Frida were too extreme to be entirely credible, Marius too boring and Frida too impulsive, but I guess the director wanted it this way to drive home the "opposites attract" thing. My teenager days are long gone, but still I found the movie entertaining, the acting was solid and while I wouldn't pay to see it in a cinema, the time watching it on tv was not wasted. Of course the movie is aimed at teenagers and parents with teenage children.

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

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.

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.

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.