Framily

I really enjoyed the dynamic between the characters in this film. The story spins itself into an unusual spiral and reflects how life is often an unexpected series of events that brings people together in surprising ways. Testing the bounds of friendship and lovers is what Framily is all about. Each of the characters are well developed and poke at different aspects of love or friendship during different stages of life. (The married couple with a new baby, the single woman who might just want to stay that way, and so on.) As a viewer, you can really get behind the journey these friends are on once it begins and of course you are hoping everything will evolve in a positive way, but knowing human nature, one must be prepared for what lies behind the initial impetus to test how far cohabitation can go. A charming adventure into the bonds of friendship. Highly recommend seeing it.

'FRAMILY': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

An indie drama about six thirty-something friends who decide to try all living in a house together. Things of course get really complicated. It was written and directed by Joachim Heden and it's his second film. It debuted in Sweden two years ago and is now available for viewing in it's entirety (for a limited time) in the US (and the rest of the world) on Vimeo. The cast is mostly unknowns, including a girl I went to school with named Jennifer O'Kain. The film is a little too melodramatic for me and a tad too slow but the production values are decent and some of the actors are pretty good.

The film tells the story of six thirty-something friends who've all had their fair share of relationship issues. When Ethan (Richard Gunn) inherits his father's house, rather than sell it, he comes up with the idea of having all his friends move into it with him. Everyone thinks it's an odd idea and is reluctant at first to take him up on his offer but eventually see the new living arrangement as a a chance for change and a new way of living. Things get complicated quickly when drama ensues and each friend begins trying different things.

I really like the premise of the movie but think the filmmakers could have done a lot more with it. None of the characters were that interesting or especially likable to me and I didn't really care about any of their issues. The acting is all mostly decent, especially Gunn in the lead and Jennifer O'Kain (I'm probably biased but I think she's a talented and beautiful actress). All of the central cast is pretty to look at and the movie as a whole looks good. The director has a good eye for how to make a movie look nice, I think his screenplay could have used a few more rewrites though.

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Saw the film at a screening in Karlstad (Sweden) a few days ago. The Director was there and encouraged people in the audience to vote/review the film here on IMDb, so here goes:

The film starts out on a light note as Ethan (Richard Gunn) invites some friends to come and live together in his recently inherited house outside San Francisco. But, once the friends move in, things get more complicated and the tone darkens. It becomes clear that some of the friends have baggage, with each other and within themselves.

The film is well acted (very well acted actually), well crafted and was on the whole a very pleasant surprise since I had not heard about this film before it popped up in the program sheet for the local art-house cinema "Arenan".

The only downside is that the main character Ethan (Richard Gunn) slips into the background a little bit in the last 20 minutes of the film. In the Q&A after the screening, the director admitted that there had been some changes made to the story in editing that might have affected this. However, this is a minor complaint.

In summary, a very well acted film and well worth the time and effort to go and see it.

Framily is a warm and interesting film - having many characters it sets out to explore our will to "not" conform, to live life a bit different from everybody else.

There are many good aspects of this film but what I really enjoyed was the dialogue and the depth of the characters - their thoughts and problems feel real!

What's also interesting is that it's a Swedish production shot entirely in the US (LA and SF, California) and I must say, they've done a great job casting the film - the cast truly carry these characters well!

I highly recommend it!

This is quite an impressive second feature from Swedish director/writer Joachim Hedén, especially considering the fact that he's been working on a shoestring budget in the US with a terrific cast of mostly unknown actors. The thing is, it doesn't look like a low budget film... The dialogue is both well-written and insightful, the actors are really good and Hedén shows that he's brave enough to trust the spectators with the capacity of thinking for themselves, something which is both unusual and refreshing. An ensemble drama with more emphasis on ensemble than drama, it still is a genuinely fascinating look into the lives of a handful of individuals living in the San Francisco area, and how they try to cope with matters regarding friendship and love. Since this film unfortunately will not get any widespread distribution, if you ever get the chance to see it - do so!