Evil

2003 · 113 min · SV · NR · 7.3 (422 votes)

Dir. Mikael Håfström · Starring Andreas Wilson, Henrik Lundström, Gustaf Skarsgård, Linda Zilliacus, Jesper Salén, Mats Bergman · Music Francis Shaw

“It's time to take a stand.”

Drama

Stockholm, in the 1950s. Erik is expelled from the local school for getting into one brawl too many. To protect Erik from his violent stepfather’s reaction to his expulsion, Erik's mother arranges for Erik to spend a year at Stjärnsberg Boarding School, the only school willing to accept him. This is Erik's last chance to graduate to Upper School and he promises his mother, for his and her sake, to do all he can to stay out of trouble.

VIBE

This film feels like a cold, hard slap of reality. It's a grim, unflinching look at institutional cruelty and the desperate fight for dignity in a system designed to break you. Expect a heavy, oppressive atmosphere that lingers long after the credits roll.

oppressivebleakunflinchingchillingintensesteadyperiod dramaarthousesocial realismabuseoppressionsurvivalauthority

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based on novel or bookboarding schoolprivate schoolbullyingstepfatherspankingdomestic abusedisciplineoppressioncorporal punishmentboys' boarding schoolabusive stepfather