What is it? We Are The Best! Or, as they like to say in Sweden; Vi Är Bäst!
Come again? It’s Swedish! It’s the new film by Lukas Moodysson (Show Me Love and Lilya-4-Ever)
Oh. Right. What’s it about? Three 13-year-old girls living in Stockholm in the 1980’s. Despite the fact that punk is over and two of them have never picked up an instrument in their lives, they decide to start a punk band. Mainly to piss off the older boys at their youth group who like to make fun of their hair.
Sounds promising… Yeah, Bobo and Klara don't make a very good band at first. And they've only got a bass and drums - the choosing of who gets to play which instrument says everything about teenage friendships BTW. Luckily they find the straightlaced Hedvig (amazing name) who happens to be an excellent classical guitarist whose staunchly Christian mother gets a terrible shock after the girls play hairdresser with Hedvig's waist-length blonde hair.
Ha, great. We've all been there Yep, and that's the amazing thing about the film - there's *so *many bits that make sense if you've been 13. If you're not doing battle with your massively embarassing parents, you're moaning about how boys will never fancy you or worrying about fitting in at school. Plus, the three girls that play the band Mira Barkhammar, Mira Grosin and Liv LeMoyne are SO great at capturing the fact that it's that frustrating age where you're SO impatient to grow up even though in hindsight you're definitely still a kid. It's the first acting gig for all three of the girls - not that you'd ever be able to tell.
What are people saying? ‘Lukas Moodysson makes a sweet, spirited return to form with this utterly delightful evocation of early teenage life.’ – Guy Lodge, Variety
What are we saying? If you don’t leave this film feeling a whole lot better about the world then you’ve got a heart of stone. It’s a totally brilliant celebration of what it’s like to be young. Plus, how many coming of age films actually focus on girls? This stands happily on it’s own next to classics like Stand By Me, The Goonies and Kings of Summer but it’s about girls, girls! Although don't say they're in a girlband. They don't like that at all.
Follow Jess on Twitter @jess_commons
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.