A Nearly Normal Family Series Review: An Engaging and Well-Constructed Thriller Series
Cast: Alexandra Karlsson Tyrefors, Lo Kauppi, Melisa Ferhatovic, Björn Bengtsson and Christian Fandango Sundgren
Created By: Mattias Edvardsson
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3.5/5 (three and a half stars)
A Nearly Normal Family (En helt vanlig familj) is the new intense Swedish miniseries available on Netflix from November 24th. Based on the novel of the same name by Mattias Edvardsson, it is an intense and deeply dramatic psychological thriller that touches the depths of the human soul and pushes us to doubt each of us. At its heart is the story of a girl accused of murder and how it confuses and overwhelms the lives of her parents, a Swedish church pastor, and a law teacher. Let’s find out why A Nearly Normal Family is a miniseries not to be missed on Netflix. It is difficult to find better locations for thriller series and films than the countries of Northern Europe, with their aseptic coldness, with the detached kindness of its inhabitants, whose smiles hide violent impulses and terrible secrets very well. Streaming platforms know this and for this reason, they do not fail to give the right space to products set in these countries: the latest addition to Netflix is A Nearly Normal Family, based on the novel of the same name by Mattias Edvardsson, also oversaw the adaptation.
As is easy to deduce from the title, at the center of this story we find a Swedish family, the Sandells, who will find themselves facing the unexpected: nineteen-year-old Stella will be accused of murder, and the life that the three had built for themselves will fall apart. But what has irremediably altered the family dynamics is an event dating back to several years earlier, a dramatic event that has upset Stella’s life as much as that, consequently, of her parents. The story created by Edvardsson, as we soon understand once the viewing has begun, is more interested in understanding how certain facts, but above all the choices that are made as a consequence, can irremediably change the lives of its protagonists, which when we meet them for the first once they are a family like any other, a “normal family”.
As we will explain in this review of A Nearly Normal Family, this series reminded us a lot of another (very successful) Swedish product available on the platform: Quicksand, another story centered on a teenage girl accused of a terrible crime, in which, testimony after testimony, flashback after flashback, the truth was finally revealed to us. Edvardsson’s series, however, is less interested in capturing the viewer with the unveiling of the mystery (which is already quite predictable halfway through the story), but in involving him in the unveiling of what the human being is capable of protecting those he loves, above all what Stella’s “very normal” parents will do to help her, to save her from the situation she has gotten herself into. This is a story that, in its extreme simplicity, ends up entering us, one of those that pushes us to ask ourselves: what would we have done in their place? Maybe the same things.
A Nearly Normal Family Series Review: The Story Plot
Stella’s (Alexandra Karlsson Tyrefors) story opens when she is only fifteen years old: during a school trip a coach, she has a crush on rapes her. The man is discovered, and her parents are notified, the two – Ulrika (Lo Kauppi) and Adam (Björn Bengtsson), she a lawyer and he a pastor of the Church of Sweden – despite understanding the gravity of the situation decide not to report him: as he states Ulrika, going to trial for rape would ruin their little girl’s life and he would most likely be acquitted. We can already predict the questions that would be asked to her: why didn’t she refuse with more conviction? Was she the one who kissed him first? Couldn’t she have shouted any louder?
A traumatic event of this type, however, will irreparably overturn the lives of the three, changing their course: the relationship between Adam and Ulrika will slowly deteriorate and Stella will distance herself further and further from them. The girl, now nineteen, decides not to continue her studies like her best friend Amina, saving as much as possible to travel. Her plans are upset by the arrival of Chris, a charming boy much older than her, to whom she is extremely attracted and reciprocated. It is Chris himself, a few weeks later, who is found dead in the park near his home. The evidence all points against Stella, who at the presumed time of the murder is seen by a neighbor right at the crime scene. The girl is arrested and taken to prison to await trial, but her parents, this time, are not willing to remain idle: to see her free, they will lie, delete evidence, and manipulate her situation to favor her. But what happened that night? Did Stella kill Chris?
A Nearly Normal Family Series Review and Analysis
As we anticipated at the beginning, A Nearly Normal Family, although building its plot on a mystery to be revealed only at the end, is more interested in outlining the complex interpersonal dynamics between its protagonists. The rape suffered by Stella, and the choice (albeit “for her good”) of doing nothing made by her parents will start a chain reaction that will influence both what happens on the fateful night of Chris’s death, as well as what will happen later. Stella’s unresolved trauma, which only with the prison psychologist will she finally be able to open up to, is the basis of both her behavior and that of her parents: the three tried to move forward, to return to being that “normal family” that they were before, but they didn’t succeed. Ulrika turned to alcohol and even cheated on her husband, he threw himself body and soul into the Church; Finally, Stella barely graduated and now doesn’t know what to do with her life.
Those expecting a thriller full of twists and turns in which surprises are teased out until the final episode may be partly disappointed. A Nearly Normal Family, despite revealing the key to the mystery in the finale, does not worry about being predictable at times: shocking the viewer with its revelations is not its objective, what interests the author and screenwriters is instead involving him in a story that there is nothing extraordinary about it, which impresses precisely because of the “normality” of its protagonists, because of the sad banality of the dramatic events that pepper their lives. The criticism of the society in which we live is very clear: why so often do women not report the violence they suffer? Why, despite being the victims, do they choose not to face the ordeal of a trial, the scrutiny of public opinion?
Stella’s story is similar to that of many other women, the trauma she suffered is the same that they also suffered. It’s difficult not to become fond of her and her parents, understanding why they made certain decisions but at the same time blaming them for doing it. What would have happened if they had fought for justice? What different path would their lives have taken? This is why Edvardsson’s series enters into us, leaving us troubled even once completed. Perhaps more than a series of shocking twists could have done. It is also thanks to the performances of its protagonists, which is also joined by that of Melisa Ferhatovic in the role of Stella’s best friend, Amina, that A Nearly Normal Family is so convincing. The four are striking for their restrained acting, for the coldness they express in certain moments, and for how they manage to completely let themselves go in others. Stella is a nineteen-year-old like many others, who reacts to the trauma suffered as many other victims would have done, trying to bury it (perhaps driven by the apparent carelessness of her parents) and to move forward, but without ever succeeding.
The moments in which she finally manages to let off steam, in prison, with the psychologist and the guard assigned to her, are very touching as if in them she had found two parental figures capable of making up for Adam and Ulrika’s shortcomings. The hoped-for contact with her parents is perhaps found again in the finale, when Stella realizes how far they were able to go to protect her, to prevent her from prison. This time too they put her well-being first, but only in this case did they truly manage to help her, at the same time healing them too from the trauma – not only Stella, but all the family members – of many years before her. The construction of the character of Chris, played by Christian Fandango Sundgren, is perhaps a little disappointing: without a doubt, a more detailed characterization of his figure was needed to better understand the evolution of the relationship with Stella. Creating the right “villain” is fundamental in stories of this type, in this case, it would have allowed us to be more involved in the ending and to empathize even more with the protagonists.
A Nearly Normal Family Series Review: The Last Words
A Nearly Normal Family is an engaging and well-constructed thriller series, although the somewhat predictable ending may disappoint those expecting shocking twists. The performances in A Nearly Normal Family are all excellent. Alex Karlsson Tyrefors delivers a powerful performance as Adam, the conflicted and tormented father. Lo Kauppi is also excellent as Stella, the enigmatic and unpredictable daughter. Björn Bengtsson and Helena af Sandeberg provide solid support as Ulrika and Adam’s friends. Overall, A Nearly Normal Family is a gripping and thought-provoking crime drama that is sure to appeal to fans of the genre.
A Nearly Normal Family Series Review: An Engaging and Well-Constructed Thriller Series - Filmyhype
Director: Mattias Edvardsson
Date Created: 2023-11-24 19:51
3.5
Pros
- Gripping and suspenseful plot
- Complex and well-developed characters
- Excellent performances
- Thought-provoking themes
Cons
- Pacing can be slow at times
- Ending may not be satisfying for everyone
