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In 1999, celebrated playwright Lars Norén (David Dencik) and producer Isa Stenberg (Maria Sid) are set on staging a play with three prisoners in the leads, convicted of serious crimes.

There was indeed a need for a reckoning with the naive attitudes in Sweden that made it possible to have violent Nazis working on a theater production while getting the opportunity to plan a bank heist that would end in the murder of two cops. This raw, searing examination maintains a clear focus, while also leaving room for a debate on the possibility of redemption.

Tense and engrossing, with a superior performance by Sid as the producer who’s slowly realizing her mistake.

2024-Sweden. 177 min. Color. Directed by Sanna Lenken. Teleplay: Pelle Rådström. Book: Elisabeth Åsbrink. Cast: Maria Sid (Isa Stenberg), David Dencik (Lars Norén), Martin Nick Alexandersson (Tony Olsson), Einar-Hugo Strömberg, Linus Gustafsson, Martin Rosengardten.

Trivia: Original title: Smärtpunkten. Originally shown in three episodes.