A bright, breezy and thoroughly enjoyable story of three teenage punkettes who strain and struggle to life, love and music in Stockholm in the early 1980s, Lukas Moodysson’s We Are The Best! is a real feel-good delight. Based on the semi-autobiographical graphic novel Never Goodnight by his wife Coco Moodysson, the film is familiar territory, but handled with a great sense of warmth and will remind Moodysson fans of his earlier films such as Together and Show Me Love.
The early part of the film details the deep and warm friendship between Bobo (Mira Barkhammar) and the ever-smiling Klara (Mira Grosin). They manage to snag some time in the youth club music room. Neither can actually play an instrument and so they recruit classmate Hedvig (Liv LeMoyne), a trained guitarist whose strict Christian upbringing also makes her something of an outcast at school. The three young actresses are all excellent, though the relationship between Bobo and Klara is the heart of this charming film. Liv LeMoyne is striking as the most mature of the girls, while amongst the adults Anna Rydgren as Bobo’s mother is terrific.
Mark Adams
Screen International
‘Audiences who responded to the light touch and warm communality of ... Show Me Love and Together will thrill to this sweet, spirited return to form’
Variety
Winner, Sakura Grand Prix, Tokyo International Film Festival
Winner, Audience Award, Reykjavik International Film Festival
