So Damn Easy Going (2022 | Sweden | 91 minutes | Christoffer Sandler)
Some things that we learn from Christoffer Sandler’s sweet-hearted coming-of-age story: there’s apparently no Swedish word for the concept of “easy going” and there are people in Sweden who fall through the social safety net and can’t get their prescriptions filled at the pharmacy. So much for the Scandinavian image of social democracy utopia.
We meet Joanna (Nikki Hanseblad) in a breezy introduction with fluid camerawork that invites us into her world. A surprisingly frank session with her fuckbuddy (a nice kid who clearly wants to be her boyfriend, despite her disinterest in anything more, or even the currently unsatisfying sexual relationship of convenience that they have). A breezy bike ride into town to sneak into the neighborhood pool for a mind-clearing swim. And then an ill-fated trip to the pharmacist who holds out on dispensing ADHD pills because her grieving father seems to have forgotten to pay their tab in the midst of his near-catatonic time at home watching local trivia programs in a dark living room. He’s barely cut out to do this, let alone raise a teenage daughter on his own.
Thus, much of the film involves Joanna descending into an increasingly uncomfortable mental state as she scrambles and schemes to find ways to get herself medicated. The film uses effective visual flourishes to capture her mental state — flashbulbs in the background during episodes, the world fading to black in moments of calm — that keep us tied to her growing frustration and distress. But her guarded exterior and reluctance to let anyone else know what’s happening inside also keeps the audience on the outside and we don’t get to know her beyond a superficial level. Such is the way with the mysterious inner lives of teenagers, but it also puts up a wall against investment in her struggles, credibility of her interactions with others, or room to forgive her many transgressions.
The primary plot is not an investigation of Sweden’s failed social contract, but an untimely infatuation with Audrey (Melina Benett Paukkonen), a new girl at school who takes an immediate interest in her very odd and increasingly erratic classmate. The film is based on a YA novel by Jenny Jägerfeld and it shows with its familiar beats. However, adequately serving important matters like mental health, self-discovery, grief, and blossoming romance is a tall order for a ninety minute film. As such most of the plot lines feel undercooked, the love story borders on flimsy fairy tale, and with conflicts that glide comfortably to pleasant resolution.
It’s heart is in the right place, capturing the mounting anxieties of adolescence magnified by the loss of control and crumbling facade of deception that you’re doing OK. The film treats Joanna perhaps too gently and expects us to let her off the hook too easily. The camera loves her, but it requires a leap from the audience to believe that we should, too.
So Damn Easy Going is playing in SIFF’s Official Competition; it is available online through the duration of the festival.
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