A controlling, abusive man slowly breaks down the woman he's in a relationship with. He subdues her word by word, one act after another. It's so easy to relate to. And I just want to tear her out of there. I can see how easy it is to just give in a little bit in the moment, and then the next moment. Eventually you're deep in the darkness, and it's even more difficult to get out. The pain and difficulty of going against him, being the target of his anger. This movie shows it all. Including the sadness and pain of being a friend seeing it happen to someone you care about.

This is a really bad film. It is slow, with lots of filler scenes, lots of slow moments and is ultimately pointless. People use these terms interchangeably, but they are different things and this film is guilty of all of them.Scenes that last too long? Check. Scenes that add nothing to the story? Check. Subplots that are unexplored? Sure. The whole story lacking a good structure? Yep. A point to this thing? Nopes.There is a graphic sex scene in the beginning that adds nothing to the story. When I mean graphic, I mean we are centimeters away from actual pornography. Yes, it's realistic, as realistic as they can go without it being actual intercourse, but what's the point? Oh, it's to be edgy.If you want to be edgy, dear, some folks have already added real intercourse in their films. This is as edgy as a temporary tattoo.If you really wanted to go with edgy, you could've not simulated the final scene on the floor (you know what I'm talking about). That would've disturbed people, but this film didn't want to go too far. It wants the coolness of the tattoo without the commitment.I'm not advocating for these things. Edgy scenes are no substitute for a good story.Here, there is no good story. This film unintentionally becomes the story of three mental patients. This is not intended by the script, but this is the result of the director's choices.Krister is a control freak. Everything has to be his way. He controls his girlfriend's every move, her friends, whether she goes out, if she comes late, if she smokes, etc. Ida is a mentally-retarded adult child. She has no personality, no style, no taste, no friends, no identity, no hobbies.Linda is also a mentally-retarded adult who is a teenager in her thirties. Hobbies include clubbing, promiscuity, drinking, drugs, etc. I'm not judging her or saying that these are bad things. She's an adult. But as an adult, she has no friends and her only friend is Ida, a mentally-retarded adult child.You see, because the director wastes our time with pointless stuff, they forgot to give these characters depth. So Krister is presented as a loser because he has no friends. That is intentional. Ida even tells him that "at least I have friends." But Linda has no friends either. That's why she's hanging out with Ida, someone who is clearly not her age (mentally). Linda is (mentally) 14-15 years old. Ida is 8 or 9. Ida is at a developmental stage where she copies Linda. She quotes phrases from her, she listens to her music, she goes out with her and does the same things she does. She listens to a CD from Linda even though they have Spotify.How is Linda not a loser too?At the end of the day, Krister has a girlfriend, Linda has no one. Krister has Ida most of the time. Linda has her only on the weekends, sometimes. Ida is far from the perfect girlfriend for Krister. She's lacking in the mental/personality department, but she's attractive and can bear him children, which is what he wants. So we know what he sees in her. But what does Linda see in Ida? She has a dumb sidekick she call say nasty things to?Linda is a nasty character who meddles in the life and relationship of a mentally unstable person when she's supposed to be a friend. Yes, Linda doesn't like Krister, but is there someone in particular she likes? She is a promiscuous person meddling in a couple's life. Is Ida better off living like Linda? Is Ida better off with someone else? Would Linda stop meddling if Krister were someone else? Nopes. Misery likes company and some people hate seeing stable couples.The director could've spent one minute showing us that Linda has her own life, her own friends, but missing that opportunity made this film what it is. So Linda looks like a loser, trying to break off a couple so that she can have her sidekick all for herself. Wow.This is not a story of a couple and their struggles. This is a story of a man (Krister) and a woman (Linda) who don't like each other but have to share or fight for the attention of a retarded girl (Ida).

The clue to this movie is the title, 'US'. A young female school teacher Ida, (Anna Åström), feels intimidated by a teenage boy student of 'Middle Eastern Appearance', Tonårskille (Kevin Vaz). She is protected by senior teacher, Krister (Gustaf Skarsgård). All her fears are projected onto 'The Other', Tonårskille as she misinterprets his meaning. But in the end it is her protector, Krister, who carries out the acts she has projected onto 'The Other'. I watched his movie just after reading "We need to talk about white people' by Amer Zahr. So I guess that directed my thinking. But good thing to think about 'US' rather than always focus on 'The Other' as the source of your fears.

Swedish films are often plagued by the same problems: campy acting, unbelievable dialogue (definitely in the bad sense of the word) and a crappy plot. This film, however, shows younger blood and a lot less stodge than most of what's been made in Sweden over the past 100 years. It is a modern, not too over-the-top story of abuse between an abuser and the abused, where both they and their environment is concerned. The acting is mostly good, even though I feel that Skarsgård saves the couple where Åström fails due to her acting. Good direction, fair script, but there should have been more work done to make the timing work. I would have loved something more to turn this film up a notch, to make it feel more real and to really burn the viewer and make it feel that yes, relationship abuse is a pandemic. Overall: recommendable, and leaves a bad taste in your mouth (in the good sense).