Hotell

Oddball Swedish movie basically about a traumatized Alicia Vikander (her new born baby was born brain damaged) who attends group therapy and eventually takes the other 4 strangers from the group on a tour of hotels to find themselves apparantely. At times it is revolting and crude and some of the characters actions unrealistic and just not normal. But it is Swedish after all. There is scene where the group intermingle at a wedding at one of the hotels and Erika (Vikander) and Rikard take the small 8 year old son of one of the wedding guests back to the boys hotel room to see his toy collection, proceed to have a bath with him, half clothed and the parents come looking for the boy, find him and on the disgust and disbelief of the parents, Vikander smashes up the hotel room. Then nothing happens. They just walk out. No police. That sums up the movie weirdness.

I enjoyed watching this movie, but overall have mixed feelings about it. Alicia Vikander again impressed me, but I want to see her in different roles. She is very, very talented. The film attempts to explore a different approach to group therapy. Erika is behind the idea of becoming somebody else, whilst temporary, in an attempt to overcome depression. While the idea seems interesting and plausible, it did not unfold well in the movie. Some scenes were not believable; some characters were too grotesque. It left some questions unanswered. It is impossible to know the extend of brain damage of a newborn. Why the child remained in the hospital? The Peter's story line is not believable at all. I give it 7 for the great performances and original screenplay.

Alicia Vikander proves once again why she is Sweden's rising star with yet another strong, intense performance. She plays the smug Erika whose secure existence with a stable boyfriend, a hip job and a high class apartment collapses after a complicated birth. She joins a frustrated therapy group that is trying to find an answer to why they are so unhappy. Together, they spontaneously check into a hotel to escape their reality by being someone else. The day after they realize that they do not want to go back, and check into a new hotel ...

With warm humor and lovingly portrayed characters who grow and develop from their stereotypical shell, Lisa Langseth manages to make a fun but at the same time serious, original work and it is liberating in the Swedish film industry where most of the films are detective stories, slapstick's or comedies.

There is an evocative darkness relieving the more hilarious situations. Langseth takes its characters seriously and chooses no easy solutions to their problems. They are charming and often funny, yet tragic, broken souls on a desperate search for answers to impossible questions. It may be considered pretentious and the resolution is a bit obvious but the director and the actor's stubborn beliefs makes the story pull through.

David Dencik is ridiculously good as an Indian-loving oddball with a mother complex. He is impressively honest and naked (even literally) and transforms what could become the gang's geek to an exciting underdog The other actors are able to breathe life into their characters, including Simon J. Berger in his few scenes as the boyfriend.

Ingela

This woman gives birth too early and her child is born with brain damages. He must remain in hospital, but his mother can hardly watch him. And impossibly touch him.

So she goes into a deep depression, after a while trying to solve it with group therapy. She's wealthy, she invites the group and herself to a hotel and there, things start moving. The bullied girl, the woman who loathes her body, the man who was abused by his mother.

It's a strong drama. Calling it being lighted up by some humor almost on the slapstick level, is a false expression. But it's interesting with movies, where you hardly can tell whether it's a comedy or the opposite.

Vikander gives a powerful and memorable performance, with some good support from the surrounding characters. The story, however, veers far into the implausible at times, and crosses the boundary of good taste at least once to the extent that one suspects Vikander may harbor some regrets about participating, despite her otherwise strong performance. The implausibility results from a failure in the latter part of the film to effectively communicate Vikander's mindset-Erika's disposition toward Rikard is difficult to divine from the action presented, and their subsequent misadventure seems to defy the logic of the film. If one overlooks that bit, however, the rest of the film hangs together pretty well. All just my opinion, of course.