Fucking Åmål

Fucking Åmål, the Swedish title of this film, is a precise reflection of the problem of a handful of teenagers who get bored stiff in a small town somewhere in Sweden. If anything is hip in Åmål, then it just has gone out of fashion in the rest of the world. The kids’ greatest fear is that they will have to spend the rest of their days in Åmål. Agnes is not very popular at school, she is lonely and withdrawn. In silence, she worships Elin, the most popular girl in the school: pretty, cool and always ready for adventure. Together with her sister Jessica, Elin prepares to go to a party, while Agnes sits at home on her birthday waiting for guests who do not arrive. When Elin and her sister finally turn up at Agnes’ party, they play a painful and humiliating trick on her. However Elin comes back later to apologise, which marks the start of a rapprochement between them. Show Me Love reveals teenagers who are uncertain about their feelings: wanting something different from the rest of the world, yet not daring to be left out. The charm of the film is to be found in the mixture of shame and pride, of revulsion and naturalness, with which Agnes and Elin cope with their feelings for each other. That provides an endearing story about budding love, but also a fairly revealing picture of the harshness and bluntness with which young people treat each other.