‘Suburbia’, from Discovery Plus Sweden, ‘Sunny Sides’ FLX
“Fitness advice, gig economics, hot-tempered Danish crime series, sustainability, sex when the kids watch cartoons, mobile bank ID, personal development 5: 2 diet, anti-aging cream, Adobe updates, climate-friendly travel, body activism,” Anders shouts quietly to the camera as he walks from his car to his home in the equivalent of the white fence Sweden at the beginning of Swedish Discovery Plus Original “Gotebia”, a half-hour dramatic psychological thriller.
“Exterior renovations, Roblox, mini Rodini hats, Fedora dinners. Shared family calendar. Find us time, life with children, drainage pipes, hot yoga, performance review, replacement of plumbing, tavern grounds, dog daycare, he continues.
43, Anders is out of his depth at work where his company’s motivational speakers are no longer in the newspaper or on TV but on YouTube, TikTok, Snap and Instagram. And suffers to keep up with Joneses – in this case the tennis player and neighbor Martin’s macho consumerism with his red sports car, new fryer and oven that works like a microwave oven – makes Anders rebel via small acts of violence, key that tears Martin’s car, headbutt an unobtrusive cyclist tipping his boss’s Entrepreneur of the Year trophy in the trash.
When he then discovers that his tween daughter is being bullied at school, something happens.
Discovery Plus Original will also be broadcast on Sveriges Kanal 5 from March 2022. It is one of the best actors by Mattias Nordkvist (“Snow Angels”, also known in Lone Scherfig’s upcoming “The Shift”), Sanna Sundqvist (“Bonusfamiljen,” ” Call mom! ”) As wife Filippa, Johan Widerberg as plastering Martin (“ Bäckström ”,“ Spring Tide ”) and Helena Af Sandeberg (“ Quicksand, ”“ Deg ”) as his husband, who is over the moon in her kitchen makeover.
“Suburbia” is also one of the latest series from the Swedish top equipment FLX, majority owned by Nordic major SF Studios since 2019, which has made its name in comedy series, such as the huge TV4 hit “Sunny Side” (“Solsidan”). now in his seventh season, before plowing into thrillers and dramas such as the early Netflix Swedish hit “Quicksand”.
Produced by Lejla Bešić (“Max Anger – With One Eye Open”) and based on “Vi i villa”, by the Swedish novelist Hans Koppel, the series reunites two “Sunny Side” talents, director Henrik Schyffert (“Run Uje Run” ). who works as concept manager at “Suburbia” and also co-wrote with lead author Tove Eriksen Hillblom (“Black Lake”) and episode writer Maria Nygren (“The Hunters”, “The Lawyer”).
Amount talked to Eriksen Hillblom, who is nominated for the Nordic Film and TV Fund Award for screenplay that will be announced at the Swedish Gothenburg Festival on 2 February.
Most series require a lot of research. I get the feeling that you and the other writers with “Suburbia” turned to your own lives, and the lives of friends and acquaintances for what you thought was the most fun and dehumanizing of suburban middle class life. But maybe I’m wrong?
Haha, no you are – unfortunately – completely right. I think we’ve all had these dinner talks and met these people. We is these people. It was so much fun to take a bite out of it all (and mask some of our own shortcomings as other characters’).
“Suburbia” begins as a suburban middle-class satire, but it grows and gets emotionally deep in its depiction of a touching father-daughter relationship, both of which are victims of bullying. Can you comment?
Yes, the father-daughter relationship is definitely the emotional heartbeat of the show and Anders’ driving force. Anders and daughter Anna’s stories are roughly parallel to each other; he thinks he’s trying to save her, but he’s really trying to save himself.
As satire, Anders points to a patriarchy of men as breadwinners, their masculinity is judged not only by skill on the tennis and paddle courts but also by leading consumer acquisitions. But do you agree?
Yeah sure. Anders hates the role play in middle-class adulthood and the patriarchy / outdated expectations of men are definitely a big part of what suffocates him, symbolized by his antagonist Martin.
One of the series’ running jokes is a debate about Danish crime series and police programs in general. Anders and a woman on the train claim that they are all about the same. The history of Nordic fiction over the past decade has been diversification from Nordic Noir to comedy, drama, thrillers. Do you see that diversification continues?
I think so, yes. There is so much being done right now that allows more voices to be heard, and a greater diversification of the types of stories that are told – which I think is good. And the more new perspectives we see, it in turn opens up the next door and so on. It can not all be about white middle-aged me….