Niklas Pivic This is a very human film, where a number of different stories all meet. In a way, it is a film where the Swedish condition overpowers the human one; Swedes are well-known for not wanting to seem "out of the ordinary", so much that everything "normal" is perverted by the will to stay inside the box and not make any noise; the very first scene in the film is a kind of metaphor for that, and the rest of the film also.At the same time, I see this film as a kind of way to show that the obscure and involuntary can be normalised as well, which is displayed beautifully; the cinematography rarely - if ever - involves a moving camera, which has plagued much of modern Swedish cinema.Some of the acting is sublime and just torturously good, as with the two main young girls, the teacher and "the macho guys". The scripts complements all of this, wonderfully.This is a film that, when at its best, touches on the sublime. At its worst, it's wavering, but that's really beyond the point. This is a mostly beautiful film on the selections we tend to make today. I recommend it.

AgentSniff Ruben Östlund must be one of the most self important directors working in Sweden today. He is angry on Hollywood for making films people are entertained by. He wonders why his film don't speak to as many people as films about cowboys and aliens when his films are about everyday life. The answer is quite simple. Most people goes to the cinema to be entertained and Ruben Östlund's film douse not entertain. Entertainment can be achieved by many emotions, happiness, horror, sadness, thrills, chills and joy. The one emotion a director is never allowed to evoke in his audience is boredom. To bore an audience is the worst crime an entertainer can commit and Östlund commits this crime.The scenes in this film is made up mostly of single shots showing scenes in the life of a teacher, two teenyboppers, an old man, a group of drunks and a bus party. All of them fall victim to the mechanisms of the group. This would have been interesting concept but Ruben Östlund's own pretentious ideas comes in the way. Like his moronic camera angels.The camera angels are often filming really strange stuff like peoples feet or a car door. I hate to be the first to bring this up to you Östlund, but you are not Roy Andersson.The psychology of a group is an interesting subject, but you can't make a movie with just that. You need context. Come up with a story to use as backdrop to your theme. The first two X-Men movies did a great job with this.There is no plot nor character development. A film can make up for this in by brining up other stuff, like an interesting story but this is not the case of this film. Ruben Östlund summarizes the worst kind of filmmakers alive; those who don't care for their audience. Others like him are Micheal Bay, Uwe Boll and Kristian Petri to name a few.Avoid this guy, because he deserves not attention,

John Seal The influence of Gus Van Sant at his most self-indulgent is in evidence throughout this dry as dust collection of filmed scenarios. The camera doesn't move. Shots are deliberately framed in such a way that heads are cut off. The sound is ambient. The characters are shallow and uninteresting. If there were such a thing as a Swedish Dogme manifesto, Involuntary could be an example of it. As it stands, it's merely an example of how not to make a film, unless you want to limit the audience to folks who are convinced that the lack of a story and technical ineptitude are the mark of genius. It's hard to believe this was Sweden's official entry for the Academy Awards in 2010.

FunkyFred Brilliant film by Ruben Östlund and the cast! This is sheer perfection from the first frame to the last one, and the battle for next year's Best Swedish Film Award seems to be decided. Here is the best Swedish picture in years. It displays in five parallel stories how people reject from speaking up when they have the opportunity, due to more or less rational fears, and once the right moment has slipped away it becomes multiply difficult later.Most of the parts are played by actors unknown to me, and they are all fantastic. In every scene the dialogue is performed the way people actually speaks in real life (And I'm Swedish, I know what it should sound like.), it's believable and absorbing. Nowhere to be heard is the theatrical and stiff line delivery that so often haunts Swedish cinema. The images are often still in unorthodox angles, while people pass in and out. It is highly innovative and it works out extraordinarily well.The film is filled with hilarious lines, but it is serious all the way, and the humour is of the kind that makes me shiver with embarrassment. It is downright painful to watch these awkward situations and know that I could so easily be a part of something similar in real life. Not least, the problems with partying and binging is displayed in a refreshingly non-romantic manner. It is all, simply, brilliant!