Marianne

After losing his wife in a tragic accident, Krister (Thomas Hedengran) must raise his infant daughter, while his teenage daughter, Sandra (Sanrda Larsson) deals with the loss in her own dark, rebellious way.

Adding to his immense stress, Krister believes he's being visited at night by a malevolent spirit. Robbed of sleep, Krister's life begins to unravel.

MARIANNE is a grim ghost story with a foreboding atmosphere. It builds up slowly like a coming storm. The finale, though somewhat predictable, is nonetheless haunting.

Every role is convincing, especially Hendengran's tormented character.

Co-stars Peter Stormare as Krister's therapist, Sven...

After seeing an online review which compared this film to Mulholland Drive (my favourite film) and the work of Stanley Kubrick, I was naturally interested. Upon seeing it, I think Lynch and the Kubrick estate should sue whoever wrote that.

Without a doubt, the worst thing about Marianne was the acting. In places it was just bad, in others it was so bad we actually started laughing, which I'm pretty sure wasn't intentional. Even Peter Stormare, an otherwise extremely confident actor, didn't seem to be trying his hardest. It may not have been solely the fault of the actors however, as the dialogue was extremely stilted and unnatural.

Since the release of the brilliant F**king Åmål (Show me Love), it has become almost obligatory for Swedish teenagers in film to be moody, rude and rather volatile - and Marianne proves to be no exception - although in this film, the teenage daughter's character is so over-done that it borders on the comical. (Though I do wonder if all teenagers in this country are really like that, ha-ha!)

The general idea for the film, with its basis in Swedish folklore was very interesting, and a subject which has not been covered so widely in film! Unfortunately, the whole project was so badly executed that it would be more entertaining to read a Wikipedia article about the topics covered.

Just caught this at the Leeds International Film Festival as part of their Day Of The Dead horror flick marathon. It's a slow-burning chiller about an errant father quite literally haunted by his past, but plays out as a closely observed family drama that flits through time unexpectedly, but never confusingly, to tell the whole story. It expertly balances the human drama with supernatural elements in a similar way to Let The Right One In, which lends a believability to the whole disturbing scenario. The performances are all spot on, especially Dylan M. Johannsson as the wide- eyed Stefan, and the cinematography is captivating.

This is not an horrible movie by any means but it still does some stuff wrong, which prevents this movie from ever becoming a truly compelling or effective one.

One of the problems with this movie is that is doesn't always manages to find a right balance between its drama and thriller/horror aspects. The entire movie is being buildup like a slow moving, family-drama, with at times simply some thriller and horror elements thrown into it. You feel that the movie would had been better if it went for one simple approach instead; either as a drama or as a thriller/horror but not a combination of these different genres.

The movie also never becomes all that interesting or compelling to watch because of that. It's not being effective enough in any way. Not with its story, not with its tension/mystery and not with its characters.

Because the movie is getting told so slowly, like you could expect of course from a good old fashioned Swedish production, the movie becomes even somewhat less interesting to watch. Also because some of the moments within it feel stretched out and at times the movie could had gotten to its point earlier. The movie does drag a little at certain points and it feels a bit overlong, even while its being only 103 minutes short.

You still have to give the movie some credit of course. It was an obvious low budget production but this doesn't ever become anything distracting or something that can take you out of the movie at times. It still is a skilfully made movie, with both lots of great people behind- and in front of the camera involved.

And please don't watch this movie for Peter Stormare, or when you expect to see a lot of him in this. He plays a secondary character, that isn't an awful lot this movie. It looks like all of his scenes got shot within a day or maybe two but still its good to see him in this of course. He obviously doesn't see himself as too big or important to play in a little movie from his native country as well.

It's really nothing too bad. Just something I can't rate very highly.

5/10

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In it's genre and section - a low budget debute indie film - this is so much more than a horror movie. What could be expected to be a simple horror dramaturgy of classic cut, turns out to develop into a interesting social drama, spiced up with colorful characters, humor and great storytelling. The acting is a chapter on it's own. Most impressive are the unestablished actors, like Sandra Larsson, that really sparkles as the daughter, conveniently named Sandra. That veteran actors like Thomas Hedengran and international movie star Peter Stormare would deliver great work was not as unexpected. Hedengran gives a convincing portrait of the troubled father, balancing on the edge to a mental breakdown. Stormare is also great as the eccentric psychiatrist, yet somewhat a less complex role, but still making an impression in the film. It should be said that for those waiting for the monster, their time will come. The characters may be given a lot of space, but the tickeling foreboding of horror is always present. As a debut feature film script, it's hard to wish for more. Writer and director Filip Tegstedt shows what he is able to do with small resources, which is very promising for projects to come.