Une famille presque normale

Good story, excellent acting, quality production overall. At its heart, it's a mystery series- it seems like the accused is guilty, OR IS SHE??? But my main complaint is that the series is slow. Sloooow. The film could have benefited from better editing. There are lots of meaningless clips which could easily have been cut out to make the show move a bit quicker- just for example, in one scene, it shows the mom getting into an elevator, and the mom is filmed going down several floors and then exiting the elevator. You feel like something is going to happen while she is riding the elevator since all this focus is on her, but nope, it's just a shot of someone riding an elevator. So not interesting. In fact, I found the whole show rather dull until episode 5, then it picks up. Is it worth a watch? For sure. I just recommend having your phone handy to give you something interesting to do during those long boring elevator scenes. 6/10.

This Swedish crime drama probably doesn't quite qualify as Scandi-noir but as a good, almost old-fashioned murder mystery, it played out well over six intriguing and entertaining episodes.

The plot centres on troubled 19 year old only-child Stella, daughter to her priest father and lawyer mother. We first see her years before, being raped at the age of only fifteen by her much older sports coach, but being talked out of prosecuting the man principally by her mother because of her "frozen fright" at what was happening to her.

Cut to the present day and to her parents' disappointment, Stella has dropped out of university to work in a cafe, which career choice we see contrasted rather unfavourably with her best friend Amina, who's applying herself at university. In the background too, it's clear there's now a communication problem with her mother who herself is distracted by having an affair with a legal colleague. Unsurprisingly, dad's caught somewhere in the middle, hence the title of the programme, I guess.

Stella's outlook changes when she falls for a handsome, older guy but even when warned by one of his ex-girl-friends of his controlling tendencies and even of a suspicion that he drugs and sexually assaults his unsuspecting partners, Stella defiantly continues the affair, despite moments when she seems to see through her lover's smooth-talking facade. Then, on a planned night-out with Amina, Stella returns home late in the early morning, goes straight into a shower and brusquely fobs off her dad's concerned enquiries at her disturbed demeanour, the poor man's state of mind exacerbated further by his absent wife clandestinely meeting her lover on the very same night. The next morning, the fireworks begin as the police arrive to arrest Stella for the murder the previous night of her boyfriend. So, who did the deed and why?

The show does a good job of displaying the family tensions at play between father, mother and daughter, which certainly contribute to Stella's restless, rebellious nature. It also examines the motivations of her parents who we see facing up in different ways to the shared guilt they feel over not supporting Stella when she was raped previously. The mother, as well as extricating herself from her affair, now actively uses her privileged position to investigate the case herself while the father reacts more irrationally, appearing to lose his faith and actually accosting the prosecuting counsel and then hunting down and beating up his daughter's rapist.

The unraveling of the murder is told using overlapping time-lines, as we see Stella in prison gradually remembering the events of the night of the murder up to the present, which culminates in the final big reveal in the concluding episode when she's put on trial for murder.

Over six episodes, there was inevitably some padding out of the story and one or two improbable plot points, none more so than when the lawyer appointed to Stella's defence turns out to be her mum's lover. Nevertheless, crisply directed, well acted and with a satisfying final outcome, this was an above average murder-mystery certainly worth seeking out.

In a world of near identical whodunnits and psychological crime shows, this one stands out above so many. A stunningly good performance from the young female lead (Alexandra Karlsson Tyrefors, a star on the rise) whose life is broken then somehow patched together again after a rape in her teenage years makes for a truly compelling perspective on hurt and resilience. The supporting actors (particularly her father, but also her mother and her boyfriend) are terrific too - nuanced, subtle performances that add up to much more than the plot on its own conveys.

Fantastic cinematography, editing, and, most important, script add up to one of the best miniseries in the genre in recent years.

I enjoyed this. It wasn't too drawn out and it wasn't a super complex storyline. There are random side stories that are fairly unnecessary and whilst a lot of them are the effects on the family, it never really explored them in any depth and so there is a "what is the point?" feel.

The acting is superb and the dubbing on the English version is done so well that it doesn't distract from the series at all.

I also felt (like another user) that episode 6 was rushed, but ultimately, we wanted to know what had happened and wrap it up by then. I also felt that this was meant to be the pre-trial to see if it went to court, but this wasn't explained and wasn't clear. But surely this isn't how trials are done in Sweden.

Overall, an easy and enjoyable watch.

First of all congratulations to the outstanding unknown actress Alexandra Karlsson, this is her first film. I watched the series on Binge until the sixth episode, which in 49 minutes tries to overload the viewer with too much information, and as if it was written by a writer from outer space. I don't know the Swedish legal system, but if that's how they operate there In the reality of police investigations, but especially murder trials, the result is that it is actually easier to be a criminal in Sweden. The courtroom looks like a hall in the Palace of Versailles. A criminal trial and a legal decision that ends in less than an hour after witness testimony and summaries? How can you search for the truth like this? I know it's not a docu-film, but to know that's how they do it in court is ridiculous and outlandish. In the end, I was left with philosophical questions, what are the insights that the film is trying to convey to the viewer? What is the conclusion from the movie? Does it pay to lie and cheat? I won't write, but everyone will probably find the answer at the end of the movie.