Summary
Love Forever is a visually appealing Swedish romantic comedy that disappoints with unoriginal writing and shallow character development despite its charming setting and talented cast.
Now and again, a romantic comedy movie is released where it’s not necessarily bad, but nothing is going for it. That can be applied to Netflix’s Love Forever, a Swedish film directed by Staffan Lindberg. The performances are fine; I just felt nothing from them.
My expectations were high because I enjoy what Sweden offers on Netflix. It did not help that my last helping of Swedish production was Let Go, a film with absolutely everything—a compelling story, strong performances, and a unique take on romance. I was so impressed that I even wrote a love letter about it (yes, I take things quite far sometimes: it must be my autistic mind).
Love Forever follows Stockholm couple Hanna (played by Matilda Källström) and Samuel (played by Charlie Gustafsson), who plan to get married on the scenic island Gotland in small-intimate fashion, but when they get there, they are pressured into family traditions, threatening to make their day into a disaster.
While the story is unoriginal, with its familiar themes of different family values, wedding day disasters, and overbearing parents, the setting and circumstances inject a sense of originality. Samuel’s family proudly upholds their values on their farm, influenced by the culture they belong to.
For example, Samuel’s mother insists that Hanna wear a different wedding dress, which is not her own but is passed down to every woman who marries within the family. The dress is horrifying on a wedding day and would make any woman want to cry. However, the pressure to adhere to family traditions increases tenfold as the movie progresses.
And that’s where the comedy, I suppose, falls short. Perhaps the director was cautious about making the feature too heavy on gags, but the real issue lies in the writing. The cast is given little to work with, and I often found myself puzzled by the characters’ lack of frustration and passion.
Here’s a defining example: Hanna clearly shows her displeasure with how the most important day of her life unfolds, and in countless scenes, she expresses her dissatisfaction with her fiance. She needs her fiance to step up and act, but he consistently bypasses every conversation either by distraction or a shrug of the shoulder. Moments later, Hanna returns to smiling, with no significant character development. This pattern, which repeats throughout the film, left me unfulfilled by the third act.
And so the comedy is reduced from here on in. Yes, other comedic scenarios are going on from the outside. Hanna’s father, Martin (played by Kjell Bergqvist), makes it comically clear throughout that he disagrees with the wedding and is tired of his wife. His self-importance due to the wealth he has claimed is the comedy, but it is not enough to save the dwindling primary storyline.
And that makes Love Forever a great shame because the setting is used well, and the cast is talented. I am confident that Staffan Lindberg missed a trick in his script and something somewhere.
