Don't listen to the negative reviews

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Reading the description of the film made me very anxious about how it will be - only very few directors will be able to handle it the right way. Thankfully, Ruben Ostlund did. It is a very dangerous subject that I think Ostlund was very, very smart and sensitive about. I applaud his approach of static cameras and un-zoomed faces, successfully and interestingly avoiding certain biases and avoiding exposing his own preconceived notions of whatever's happening on screen. It is then up to the audience to fill in the gaps and question their own prejudices.Based on real cases, this young group of North African boys never use violence. They do a certain skit and prolong it with intimidation and a tougher form of peer pressure. This is important to note because when we do see violence from older men 'defending' their relative it is shocking and a different level of disturbing.I particularly love the nuance he adds with the boy who decides to go home early, and the brief but absolutely necessary peek at one of the boys' home. Fantastic were the funny interjections about the cradle also. I'm not sure what to feel about the two white women being knights in shining armors at the end though. It feels a leap from the realism we've been shown all the time previous but of course not impossible either.

This film is about a gang of black youths in Gothenburg who use elaborate psychological tricks to steal from Swedish boys of the same age, such as their mobiles, designer cloths and essentially everything what they have. The reason why this film is painful to watch is the total psychological control this gang has over the Swedish boys. This is not achieved through violence but through elaborate psychological tricks. Part of this is a complete lack of respect for the victims. However, this film is far from generic but is a detailed study of the Swedish mentality and how this can be exploited. In terms of style the film has written Michael Haneke all over it which is not a bad thing. The use of wide shots makes is often impossible to see facial expressions which is a bit of a shame but on the other hand leaves room for interpretations. The bullying on the tram reminded me of a scene in Haneke's "Code unknown". Overall this film is hard to watch because of the relentless bullying but this makes it even more essential watching. It's a brave film portraying this gang in a very negative light but it is honest by doing so and not trying to create artificially a "balanced" view.

Liberal upbringing, indifference in society, uncontrolled immigration from different continents, worship of fine goods - and so there are issues depicted in the film in question, mostly characteristic to Western societies. As children and teens are among most vulnerable strata, the topics mentioned above are reflected in an intensified and crooked manner. - for them, attempts for self-determination and acts of bullying are often intertwined. Play is focused on one incident, but similar rackets occur and have occurred for decades, thus it is not astonishing or so; moreover, it is no secret that immigrant youth is more criminogenic than local one - it is nothing to do with racism, those evildoers could have easily come from the Balkans or Eastern Europe - by way of example of Sweden where youth gangs organized by race or ethnicity have become a serious issue in big cities. Anyway, the depiction here is protracted and arid, some scenes are lacking reason, and the ending is numb. The cast is not impressive either, I would not recognize most of them in case I see them in other movies.Thus, a mediocre movie to me, but it would be probably educational for families with children in multi-ethnic communities.

The film shows a group of bullies and their relationship with their victims, and how the group works during different circumstances. The movie is based on actual events in Gothenburg, where kids used a scheme wherein they accused their targets of having stolen mobile phones. Through coercion and psychological violence they then make the victims to hand over the cell phone to get out of the uncomfortable situation that arises. During the movie, the power relationship between the groups, the bullies and the victims, often changes and the bullies ask their victims for help, which they also get, as the victims play along in the social setup that has been created. The interactions with adults that the groups have are unsettling. The adults often refuse to interfere, perhaps due to insecurity about where the line goes, or whether they are assumed to interfere. Some adults also seem to downplay what is happening in front of them, almost acting as if children cannot abuse other children, and what they witness is child's play.Ultimately, the adults and the children seem to be from different worlds altogether, worlds that are not meant to meet.The end has several interesting twists. One of them is when, several months later, one parent of the robbed children finds one of the perpetrators, and decides to confront him. This is done in a similar bully-like way as the bullies were using in the first place. During the movie I felt very angry and upset, and I was picturing several ways I would deal with the bullies. But this last scene shows the futility of acting in such short-sighted ways; the reasons for acting like bullies are reinforced as he views himself even more of an outsider, and the abusive parents are later confronted by onlookers.Trying to explain their frustration and the situation to the confronting onlookers, I feel as if the parents are not only talking for themselves, but also for my own viewpoints.The absurdity of using bullying to stop bullying is exposed, and I laugh at my own simple and reductionist reactions I had just a few minutes ago. This was an great movie, one of the best, most developed depictions of human behavior, domination and submission in social interaction. If I ever become a parent, I would definitely show this movie to my children as they are about to enter school, to discuss how to deal with bullies and to talk about how bullying arises.