Before 2025, I had never heard of Norwegian writer Dag Johan Haugerud – a latecomer to film with a considerable body of novels to his name, who unexpectedly gifted us with the most beautiful film trilogy since Kieslowski's Three Colors.
Love, Sex, and Dreams are all set in Oslo and all attempt to invent a new, simple, and clear language for a cinematic conversation about desire and loss. Haugerud clearly owes a debt to Érik Rohmer, but he adds his own Scandinavian sensibility to the artfully constructed dialogues and unassuming, cozy staging... and even a touch of theological fervor, which together result in a completely new flavor.
Winner of the Golden Bear in Berlin, Dreams is a film about infatuation, transgression, trust, and abuse –and above all, about the eternal longing to transform oneself through an erotic relationship.
There is hygge, #MeToo, and all the helplessness that accompanies us when talking about feelings in the third decade of the 21st century.