More than 20 years ago, Lukas Moodysson directed the Swedish comedy Together: set in 1975, it was about a bunch of hippies living in a Stockholm commune on a diet of chickpeas and porridge. The film gently poked fun at the hopeless lefties – failing at open relationships, never quite managing to live up to their ideals – and it was hard to know which was woollier, their jumpers or their politics. Now comes a slightly disappointing sequel set 24 years later, featuring the same cast, but lower levels of warmth and affection. It’s a less lovable film; it is directed, I felt, with a bit of a sneer.
The year is 1999. The population of the commune has dwindled to two men: bearded Göran (Gustaf Hammarsten) and gentle-souled artist Klasse (Shanti Roney). They call themselves a commune, but really the pair are more like flatmates (they got kicked out of the last commune for not being vegan). Then, one summer afternoon, Klasse gets the old gang back together, throwing a surprise 53rd birthday party for Göran.
Everyone from the original commune makes it. Like a school reunion, the fun of the film is finding out what’s happened to everyone, who’s doing what. There’s Anna (Jessica Liedberg), who walked around in the original with her pants off (“I’ve got a fungal infection”) and is now a famous author. Her ex, Lasse (Jonas Karlsson), is a theatre director. Erik (Olle Sarri) has turned his back on the left entirely. Göran’s ex Lena (Anja Lundqvist) has lived through serious mental health breakdowns, not handled particularly sensitively by the script. The wine pours, and it’s all nostalgia and fond memories until everyone gets drunk.
Like Together, Moodysoon’s film is about failure and loneliness. The uncomfortable thing is that it all looks bleaker with the characters in their 50s rather than their 20s and 30s. The original delivered some big laughs, scenes that were an absolute joy. This is less good-natured; it is a film with streak of misanthropy, more likely to leave a sour taste in the mouth than a smile on your face.
• Together 99 is on BFI Player from 5 August.
