This Swedish relationship drama starts promisingly, but the script is too soapy and laboured
Sheets in disarray, two lovers avoiding each other’s gaze; Swedish director David Färdmar opens his feature debut with an emotional
bomb blast in a perfect white bedroom. “So you can’t even say it any more,” spits out Adrian (Björn Elgerd). Finally, Hampus (Jonathan Andersson) concedes: “I love you. But there is no more ‘we’.” Leaving the wounds hidden, this is a promisingly imposing opening scene – but Färdmar, as he charts the pair’s breakup, can’t fully flesh it out in a stiff and increasingly laboured LGBT drama.
Initially, it’s a duel for moving-on supremacy. Adrian seems to take the early lead, hooking up with an ex, while Hampus appears the needier, tearfully manipulating him back into bed. But it’s Hampus who strikes out first on a new relationship, while Adrian – resentment weighing behind his eyes – remains hostage to the issues that sabotaged them in the first place. Seeking to give these intimate negotiations epic dimensions, Are We Lost Forever follows in the footsteps of Abdellatif Kechiche’s Blue Is the Warmest Colour, sharing the same taste for establishing its naturalistic credentials through explicit sex scenes.