The Storm Review: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
The Storm is a fast, funny, and chaotic look at how people hide behind perfect images. A strong ensemble cast and wild energy keep it from dragging, and the messy third act pays it all off.
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
Platform: Netflix
Genre: Dark Comedy, Drama
Language: Swedish
Director: Josephine Bornebusch
Cast: Gustaf Skarsgård, Aliette Opheim, Jonas Karlsson
Some of the best films use just one place. Done well, a single setting lets a story turn up the heat on its characters until they have nowhere to hide. The Storm, a Swedish Netflix film written and directed by Josephine Bornebusch, does exactly that. It burns down the false faces we show to others and to ourselves, in the funniest and messiest way.
The story takes place at a struggling bed and breakfast on the husband’s 45th birthday. Filip, played by Gustaf Skarsgård, and Caroline, played by Aliette Opheim, have just bought a lavish farm estate in northern Sweden. It is still being repaired, and it is costing them a fortune.
To stop the money drain, they invite Filip’s best friends from university, hoping at least one of them will invest. The guests could not be more different, but they share one thing. They are all lying.
Some lie to their partner, some lie to each other, and some lie to themselves. They arrive with glamour and show, hoping to look like the richest, best version of themselves. Then a storm traps everyone inside the house, and every polished act begins to crack.
Each guest hides something. Ossi, played by Filip Berg, buys Gucci loafers to look richer than a middle-class father, while his wife, Kina, played by Bornebusch herself, is too busy worrying about her sick child to pretend at all.
Henrik, played by Christopher Wagelin, is an egotistical CEO about to lose everything, and his much younger wife Ninni, played by Sara Shirpey, craves attention from anyone nearby.
Jakob and his husband Nicholas, played by Jonas Karlsson and Johan Rheborg, hide their age and their dislike of the people at the table.
Then there is Nattis, played by Gizem Erdogan, who loves to police everyone’s words and hides her loneliness behind angry social media activism. The only truly good thing about her is her dog, Mochi.
What makes the film work is how these selfish people crash into each other. The mistakes are often small and silly, but they grow into huge messes because of who these people are. It is dumb, dark, and sometimes silly, yet it never drags, thanks to the strong performances.
The standouts are Skarsgård and Opheim. Their chemistry is a mix of annoyance feeding on annoyance, where passion once lived. As they spiral, they steal the show.
The house plays a big part too. Its faded elegance seems built to embarrass the characters as secrets come out. The walls feel like they are closing in, squeezing out the truth whether anyone wants it or not.
Add in drugs and alcohol, plus a camera that darts around frantically, and you are pulled right into their mania. The bright pastels and rich gem colors stay in place even in the darkest moments, making the film a treat to look at.
Broken into chapters with title cards, the story gets worse with each act. The friends fall apart separately, so the house becomes a free-for-all. Then the final act pulls everything together. Every lie and wrong guess comes out until everyone is crying and yelling in a spa.
Strangely, when Filip breaks down their faults, no one fights back. You will find yourself rolling your eyes, laughing hard, and even sighing with relief, sometimes all in one scene. You might also wonder if someone will be hurt or if the house will burn down.
By the end, nothing seems to have changed. The friends see each other’s flaws and keep coming back anyway. As Filip says in the closing narration, “What did we learn? Nothing, but we survived.” It is not a sad message. It is a real one. The storm will come again, and life goes on.
If you are building your weekend list, our review of Crystal Lake covers a bloody Friday the 13th prequel with a frustrating mistake. For a more serious pick, our review of Tyson looks at Netflix’s gripping but uncomfortable boxing documentary, and our review of The Trap covers another Netflix thriller that twists itself into knots.
The Storm is now streaming on Netflix.