''Becoming Astrid'' ( sv, Unga Astrid, da, Unge Astrid) is a 2018

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

about the early life of Swedish author

Astrid Lindgren Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren (; ; 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays. She is best known for several children's book series, featuring Pippi Longstocking, Emil of Lönneberga, Karlsson-on- ...

. An

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companies ...

between Sweden and Denmark, the film is directed by

Pernille Fischer Christensen Pernille Fischer Christensen (born 24 December 1969) is a Danish film director and the older sister of actress Stine Fischer Christensen. She started out in the movie business when she was 20 years old as an assistant to . During that time, Gis ...

, from a screenplay co-written by Christensen and

Kim Fupz Aakeson Kim Fupz Aakeson (born 12 September 1958, Copenhagen) is a Danish writer, illustrator and screenwriter. Selected filmography References External links * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aakeson, Kim Fupz 1958 births 20th-century Danish male w ...

, and stars

Alba August Alba Adèle August (born 1993) is a Danish-born Swedish actress and singer. Early life She is the daughter of Danish director Bille August and Swedish actress and director Pernilla August, who divorced in 1997. Her older sister Asta Ostergren i ...

and Maria Fahl Vikander as young and elder incarnations of Lindgren, alongside

Maria Bonnevie Anna Maria Cecilia Bonnevie (born 26 September 1973) is a Swedish-Norwegian actress. She was born in Västerås, Sweden, but grew up in Oslo, Norway. Her parents are Norwegian actress Jannik Bonnevie and Swedish actor Per Waldvik. Bonnevie was ...

Magnus Krepper Rolf Magnus Krepper (born 10 January 1967 in Norrköping, Sweden) is a Swedish actor, dancer, singer, and magician. He is a member of ''Moderna Illusionisters Cirkel''. In 2006, Krepper received the Guldbagge Award for best male role in the 200 ...

Trine Dyrholm Trine Dyrholm (; born 15 April 1972) is a Danish actress, singer and songwriter. Dyrholm received national recognition when she placed third in the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix as a 14-year-old singer. Four years later, she again achieved national re ...

, Henrik Rafaelsen and

Björn Gustafsson Lars Björn Gustafsson (born 19 February 1986) is a Swedish comedian and actor. He is known from TV shows such as ''Parlamentet'' and '' Stockholm Live''. Early and personal life Gustafsson was born in Gothenburg, Sweden. He studied at the C ...

. The film premiered at the

68th Berlin International Film Festival The 68th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 15 to 25 February 2018. German filmmaker Tom Tykwer served as Jury President. American film director Wes Anderson's animated film ''Isle of Dogs'' opened the festival, becoming f ...

on 21 February 2018, and was theatrically released in Sweden on 14 September 2018, as well as in Denmark on 31 January 2019.

Plot

Children from all over the world write letters to Astrid Lindgren (Maria Fahl Vikander), which makes her dream back to her youth in

Småland Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized fo ...

. When she (

) worked at ''Vimmerby tidning'', she falls in love with the chief editor, Reinhold Blomberg (Henrik Rafaelsen), who is 30 years her senior. She becomes pregnant with a son, Lars. As an unwed mother, she chooses to give birth to her son in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, where she did not have to disclose the father's name. Her son spent his first years in a Danish foster family. At the

Royal Automobile Club The Royal Automobile Club is a British private social and athletic club. It has two clubhouses: one in London at 89 Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, near Epsom in Surrey. Both provide accommodation and a range o ...

, Astrid met Sture Lindgren (

), who later came to be her husband.

Cast

as Astrid Ericsson ** as Older Astrid *

as Hanna Ericsson, Astrid's mother *

as Samuel August Ericsson, Astrid's father * as , editor-in-chief of Vimmerby magazine, and father of her son Lars *

as Lars' Danish foster mother *

as Sture Lindgren, Astrid's later husband * Li Brådhe as Landlord * Mira Mitchell as Berta *

Sofia Karemyr Emmy Sofia Oline Karemyr (born 1 February 1994) is a Swedish actress. She is best known for her roles in the films ''Call Girl'' and '' Becoming Astrid'', and the Viaplay series '' Älska mig'' and '' Partisan''. Early and personal life Karemyr ...

Madicken Madicken is a fictional character created by the Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. Madicken appeared in six books, two films — '' Du är inte klok Madicken'' (1979) (''You're out of your mind, Maggie'') and ''Madicken på Junibacken'' (1980) (''M ...

Production

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

took place at Marquardt Palace in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

as well as in Västra Götaland in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Release

Following its premiere at the

, ''Becoming Astrid'' was screened at the

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

, where its North American distribution rights were purchased by

Music Box Films Music Box Films is a distributor of foreign and independent film in theatrical, DVD/Blu-ray, and video-on-demand markets in the United States. Based in Chicago, Music Box Films is independently owned and operated by the Southport Music Box Corpor ...

. The film received a

limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

on 23 November 2018.

Critical response

The film received critical acclaim. On

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, it holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, "''Becoming Astrid'' pays tribute to a beloved character's creator with a biopic that proves the story behind the scenes is just as timelessly engaging." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, it has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades

Response from loved ones

Karin Nyman, Astrid and Sture's daughter, has criticized the film about her mother, stating that Astrid would have felt enormous reluctance for such a film, and that the period in her life, the relationship with Reinhold Blomberg, the son's birth, and foster home stay, was something private, which she did not want to focus on. Nyman drew comparisons to other biopics, about

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

('' Darkest Hour'') or

Björn Borg Björn Rune Borg (; born 6 June 1956) is a Swedish former world No. 1 tennis player. Between 1974 and 1981, he became the first man in the Open Era to win 11 Grand Slam singles titles with six at the French Open and five consecutively at Wimb ...

('' Borg vs McEnroe''), where one focused on what they accomplished in life, rather than a few years of the person's most intimate private life.

References

External links

* * * * {{Metacritic film Astrid Lindgren 2018 biographical drama films 2010s Swedish-language films 2010s Danish-language films Swedish biographical drama films Danish biographical drama films Biographical films about writers Cultural depictions of Swedish women Cultural depictions of writers Films directed by Pernille Fischer Christensen Films set in Sweden Films set in Denmark Films shot in Germany Films shot in Sweden 2018 drama films 2018 films 2018 multilingual films Swedish multilingual films Danish multilingual films 2010s Swedish films