UFO Sweden

Saw this at the Imagine film festival 2023 in Amsterdam. I assume this to be a movie for a much younger audience, letting viewers identify themselves with the lead actress Denise. Remember (in Dutch) the Bob Evers books, where young amateur detectives find the real truth where officials fail. Obviously, with my 75 years of age, I am way beyond the target group.

Lead protagonist Denise meets a collection of typical nerds in the form of UFO Sweden, a group so very anecdotical nerdy that it becomes too much to bear. Ditto with the 4-letter company owning a secret measurement station in the woods, not appearing on any maps. The company has an unwelcoming head office, seemingly very secure, but two of our nerds obtain access easily (too easy) via a backdoor. We meet their head of research a few times, The first time in the woods next to the officially non-existing station. She has all the appearances of a typical bureaucrat, very reluctant to cooperate. She did not admit that the station exists, even standing in front of it.

Very much later in the story, the same woman proves to be a true scientist under the skin. She changes heart once seeing the truth in the formulas shown to her, and happily works along with two intruders in a way that violates her job description on many counts.

I see little harm in the attempts made to simplify the laws of physics, calling names of famous scientists, mentioning well-known phenomena (relativity, wormholes etc), and using models for wormholes with sheets of paper.

I scored 3/5 for the audience award when leaving the venue. I must admit bias, knowing more about physics than an average viewer, and also not belonging to the target group of young people who are expected to identify themselves with lead-protagonist Denise.

PS: In the introductory address, one of the festival programmers said that the movie industry in Sweden succeeds for a fraction of the budget that Hollywood needs to still fail (said not exactly that; I paraphrase). This vintage movie feels genuine. It shows striking special effects, maybe made with better tools than exis-ted in the 80/90-ties it is situated in, but nevertheless looks neither over the top nor impossible for that era.

This is a B-movie with a high budget. The characters are under-developed and not believable. All technically related stuff in the movie is painfully unrealistic. There is a lot of mindless action that always ends in the way you thought it would.

I think the worst part is actually the characters and the writing. The actors themselfs are mostly fine and deliver (including the two main characters).

But the personalities are one-dimensional and narrow. They never say or do anything unexpected and it mostly feels they are just created to make the story fit together.

I will mention a few plus sides though: The cinematography and special effects are good. The choice of music is mostly good too. The setting in the 90s feels beliavable. It has a bit of funny moments as well.

At best, the movie has some "Stranger things" vibe to it. At worst, it makes you cringe and wanting to fast forward a segment or two.

Invokes a feeling of Wargames and Close encounters of the third kind. A throwback to 90's action adventure sci-fi movies, but in Sweden! A very charming film with a lot of heart and humour.

Plot revolves around a teenage girl looking for her father who might have dissapeared in an alien abduction in the 80's. She turns to her fathers old UFO Assosciation for help.

It is all done a bit tounge in cheek, for example the hacking is what you would expect from a movie made in the nineties and maybe not form a movie made in 2022. But it is in line with the charm and tone of the film.

Well acted, great soundtrack, and excellent cinematography and effects.

I higly recommend it!

This charming, fun and thrilling movie takes you right back to the 90;s (and a bit of the 80;s as well). For a lover of vintage you will find a lot of nice details, and for a lover of old school sci fi you will get the feels from those old Spielberg movies such as "Close encounters of the third kind".

The special effects are stunning, yet true to movies 30 years ago, and there were some nailbiting scenes were we, me and my 13 year old daughter, were leaning far in our chairs at the cinema.

The roles are perfectly casted, and the characters are diverse. I especially enjoyed Isabelle Kyed as "Töna" and Niklas Kvarnbo Jönsson as "Karl-Tefat" but I only have great words to say about the rest of the cast aswell.

This movie succeds were others fail by being absolutely genuine and down to earth (pun not intended) and I am very impressed by the small production company Crazy Pictures that continues to build a name for themselves with productions like this.

For lovers of sci fi and action this is a must see, but it's also filmed with that humor and warmth that takes it to another level.

My girlfriend loves anything to do with UFOs or Aliens so we like to watch a good sci-fi film every now and again. 'UFO Sweden' is a very good addition to this genre and is very well-made.

This was a sterling effort from the production team and from the actors and actresses. Make no mistake about it, 'UFO Sweden' is a great contribution to the relevancy of European cinema which often struggles with more limited budgets than our American counterparts in the film industry.

Undoubtedly one of the best Swedish and European sci-fi films ever released, do not miss out on 'UFO Sweden' if you love sci-fi.