“Love Me,” a Swedish TV series that won the 2020 Kristallen Television Awards for Best TV Drama, makes its North American premiere Dec. 24 on Topic. The Swedish language series is subtitled in English, making it easy to follow the soap opera style series about love at three different stages of life.
The true-to-life characters on “Love Me” grabbed my attention with the first 40 minute episode. The series examines how people of different ages and places in life long for, and hopefully find, everlasting love and passion.
Sten & Clara Search for Love
We first meet Sten, a loving husband who lavishes care on his bedridden wife of 40 years, Kersti. Apparently Kersti hasn’t recovered from an auto accident a few years before, which resulted in the amputation of one leg. She has lost the will to live, and Sten’s efforts to make her happy include booking a luxury spa vacation as an anniversary present. Kersti dies from a stroke before he can show her the gift certificate for the expensive trip (which is non-refundable), so his daughter Clara convinces him to go alone. At the airport, Sten meets Anita, a lovely, fun-loving widow who is also traveling on her own. Anita’s eyes light up when she finds Sten is her next-door neighbor at the resort.
Clara is a beautiful and independent 37-year-old woman who’s a successful obstetrician at a maternity clinic. While she longs to find the right guy and have children of her own, she keeps meeting losers. After accidentally meeting Peter, her handsome, charming neighbor—who seems to be too good to be true—Clara seems to be on the verge of finally finding romance. That is, if she really wants it.
Aron, Elsa & Jenny
Aron, Sten’s college-aged son who still lives at home, is studying to be a lawyer. He’s still involved with his childhood sweetheart, Elsa, but they break up when he finds she’s been unfaithful. He finally realizes what we in the audience spotted long before, which is that his best friend, Jenny, is the girl he should have been with all along. Just when we thought Aron and Jenny would find happiness together, Elsa shows up again–pregnant.
I’ve watched four episodes (each about 40 minutes long) now, and am totally hooked on this six-episode series, although I have to pay close attention to the subtitles since I don’t understand Swedish. But the characters and the plot twists in “Love Me” are fascinating. I’m told there is an American remake in the works. It’s by Life Sentence creators Erin Cardillo and Richard Keith, Ellizabeth Banks and Max Handelman’s Brownstone Productions. Also Welcome to Sweden co-creator/star Josephine Bornebusch and Warner Bros. TV.
Love Me Cast & Creatives
“Love Me” is written and directed by Josephine Bornebusch. She also stars in the series and has been nominated as Best Actress. Her co-star Johan Ulveson is also nominated for best actor. Other cast members: Gustav Lindh, Ia Langhammer, Gorel Crona, Dilan Gwyn, Sofia Karemyr, Sverrir Gudnason, Nina Zanjani, Christopher Wagelin, and Eva Fritjofson.
The producer of “Love Me” is Sofie Palage, with Executive Producers Johan Hedman and Fredrik Ljungberg (Viaplay). Production Company Warner Bros. ITVP (Sweden); co-producers Viaplay, Film Capital Stockholm Fund.
“Love Me” is available to stream starting Dec. 24 on Topic, the new streaming service from First Look Media. Curated for a “curious and engaged audience seeking smart, provocative and meaningful entertainment,” the rapidly growing service features North American premieres and exclusive programming from around the world. Topic is available to US audiences on Topic.com, Apple IOS, AppleTV, Android, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku, plus Amazon Prime Video channels.
