''We Are the Best!'' () is a 2013 Swedish

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by

Lukas Moodysson Karl Fredrik Lukas Moodysson (; born 17 January 1969) is a Swedish filmmaker, novelist, and short story writer. First coming to prominence as an ambitious poet in the 1980s, he had his big domestic and international breakthrough directing the 1 ...

and adapted from the

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

''Never Goodnight'' by his wife, Coco Moodysson. The film was screened in the Special Presentation section at the

2013 Toronto International Film Festival The 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 5 and 15, 2013. ''The Fifth Estate (film), The Fifth Estate'' was selected as the opening film and ''Life of Crime (film), Life o ...

Plot

1982

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

: Bobo and Klara are 13-year-old girls ostracized by their peers for their love of punk rock. Androgynous, with short hair and baggy clothes, they endure the wrath of condescending teen boys who play in a rock band called Iron Fist at their youth club. The girls start their own band to irritate the boys, even though neither can play an instrument. Bobo uses punk as a means of escape whereas Klara is angry and political and writes the sardonic lyrics she sings. The duo ask a shy and friendless Christian girl, Hedvig, to join their band after seeing her classical-guitar performance at their school talent show. Hedvig teaches them to sing and play in the same key. She's a respectful and patient teacher even though Klara tries to convince her not to believe in God. Bobo and Klara talk Hedvig into letting them cut her hair into a short, punk style. Hedvig's mother threatens to report this to the police unless they go to church with her for a few weeks. Bobo and Klara refuse, Klara's father having told them that what they did was not a crime. At school, Hedvig avoids Bobo and Klara; they think this is because she is angry at them. In fact, they learn, Hedvig is just embarrassed by her mother's behaviour and assuming that Bobo and Klara are angry at her. They remain friends. Klara then suggests that Hedvig needs an electric guitar. Lacking the necessary funds, they beg at the railway station but spend the money they receive on sweets instead. After seeing a magazine interview with a local punk band consisting of three similarly aged boys from

Solna Solna ( or , ), also known as Solna Municipality, is a municipality in central Stockholm County, Sweden, located just north of Stockholm City Centre. Its seat is located in the town of Solna, which is a part of the Stockholm urban area. Solna i ...

, they call up one of its members, Elis. He agrees to meet them at Solna railway station, but reveals that they are now just a duo after kicking out their third member. The three girls, Elis, and his bandmate Mackan go to his band's rehearsal space. Klara and Elis pair off, and Mackan gravitates toward Hedvig. Bobo is frustrated at being left out. Later she calls Elis and meets up with him. After she confesses this to Klara, they fight, but Hedvig makes them reconcile. One of the youth club staff attempts to teach Hedvig to play electric guitar but she proves to be a better player than him. Bobo is frustrated playing drums and angry that Klara won't let her try the bass. The staff book Iron Fist and the girls' band at a small Christmas gig in

Västerås Västerås () is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 158,653, over 100,000 mo ...

. After the audience heckle them, Klara changes the lyrics of their song "Hate the Sport!" to "Hate Västerås!," causing a minor riot. This earns them Iron Fist's respect. On the bus back to Stockholm, Bobo, Klara and Hedvig declare, "We are the best!" One of the youth club workers responds that they are the worst but the girls laugh and carry on. The film ends with Klara's father playing clarinet on the toilet.

Cast

* Mira Barkhammar as Bobo * Mira Grosin as Klara * Liv LeMoyne as Hedvig * Mattias Wiberg as Roger * Jonathan Salomonsson as Elis *

David Dencik Karl David Sebastian Dencik (; born 31 October 1974) is a Swedish-Danish actor. He has acted in both Swedish and Danish films, his break-through in Sweden being his role in the mini-series '' Lasermannen'' and has then had major roles in English- ...

as Klara's father * Charlie Falk as Linus * Alvin Strollo as Mackan * Ann-Sofie Rase as Hedvig's mother * Lily Moodysson as Hedvig's sister * Edvin Ottoson as Iron Fist Frontman * Nick Kankaanpää as Iron Fist Member * Felix Klaesson as Iron Fist Member * Victor Norlin Ericsson as Iron Fist Member * Felix Sandman as compere * Vanja Engström as Sandra * Viveca Dahlén as Gunnel * Clara Christiansson as Louise * Sebastian Mira as Jon * Lucas Hammaström as Mårten * Livia Rembe Nylander as Mia * Samuel Lazar Eriksson as Wizard

Release

Following its premiere at the

, ''We Are the Best!'' was released in its home country of Sweden on 11 October 2013. The film was later released in Denmark on 29 May 2014 and in the United States (via

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

) on 30 May 2014.

Reception

''We Are the Best!'' received critical acclaim; on review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

, the film has a 97% approval rating based on 127 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Sweet, empathetic, and shot through with a palpable joy, ''We Are the Best!'' offers a tender tribute to the bittersweet tumult of adolescence." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has an 87/100 rating based on 28 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:We Are The Best 2013 films Danish coming-of-age drama films 2010s Swedish-language films Films directed by Lukas Moodysson Films based on Swedish comics Films set in Stockholm Films set in 1982 Films shot in Stockholm Live-action films based on comics Punk films Swedish coming-of-age drama films 2010s coming-of-age drama films 2013 drama films Films about girl groups 2010s female buddy films 2010s Swedish films