| A Swedish romantic comedy where families and traditions clash at a rural wedding. Hanna (Matilda Källström) and Samuel (Charlie Gustafsson) are getting married on the island of Gotland off the east coast of Sweden, where Samuel grew up and his parents and family still reside. Most of the characters, but especially the central wedding couple, are well crafted. Hanna and Samuel both have real jobs where they’re in control but have an immature streak, setting us up for the comedy to come. | | 2025
Directed by: Staffan Lindberg
Screenplay by: Staffan Lindberg
Starring: atilda Källström, Charlie Gustafsson
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Netflix has released half a dozen international comedies leading up to Valentine’s Day and Love Forever is the best of the bunch. Which isn’t saying much at all, but it also just keeps getting better as it goes along.
It starts as a very middle of the road romantic comedy, a lot of the supporting characters are painted with a rather broad brush initially. Hanna’s father Martin is a super condescending prick who cares more about work than his daughter’s wedding and already hates Samuel’s parents before meeting them. Samuel’s parents are cartoonishly rustic as they keep springing new traditions on the wedding couple like this hideous folksy dress that his mother is forcing Hanna to wear.
As more characters are introduced, the existing ones become more well rounded and the comedy starts getting elevated a bit since there is more to say and more going. For instance, Hanna’s best friend Linda is exes with Samuel’s best friend Marcos, but then we learn the reason for their breakup, and their interactions start becoming more meaningful, especially as compared to Linda’s new boyfriend currently schmoozing up to Martin. The bride’s father Martin remains awful but all of the other characters are more than just a vehicle for a joke and contribute to the plot in a meaningful way.
Same goes for the bride and groom. With more characters arriving and more wedding plans getting ruined, turns out the lead couple isn’t as perfectly in love as implied. Early on Hanna complains that Samuel doesn’t stick up for her against his mother, but later we learn Hanna didn’t stick up for him against her father. A parallel callback that perfectly fits the characters. The mediocre rom-com seamlessly turns into a genuinely funny comedy about life and love with some serious moments for reflection sprinkled in. The pacing for this movie is very good, the plot keeps advancing and the comedy never gets too stale.
Eventually Love Forever becomes more of a screwball comedy than a romantic comedy, and that really helps the film because by that point there are so many well-crafted characters that are real and genuine and funny that each silly advancement in the plot is still funny. It starts out a little slow and immature but becomes quite enjoyable by the end.
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