A New Swedish Romance Drama For Netflix

In 1993, Swedish author Mats Wahl released Vinterviken which later got made into a film in 1996. The romantic drama was directed by Harald Hamrell and Wahl co-wrote the screenplay. Taking off from the 1993 book and the 1996 film, Netflix has just announced that it has commissioned Vinterviken 2021, a modern day adaptation of Wahl’s book, which will be written by  Dunja Vujovic and directed by Alexis Almström. The film will be produced by Filmlance International, which is a part of the Endemol Shine Group and is one of Sweden’s largest production companies. Filmlance has also produced the hit Nordic Noir Swedish TV series, The Bridge (Bron|Broen) as well as the extremely popular 2020 series Caliphate. 

“I will never forget when I watched Vinterviken as a teenager in the 90s,” Almström said in a press release. “A lot has happened since then, not only in a good way. A feeling of hopelessness is getting prevalent amongst young people, regardless of background. Therefore, I’m excited to share this hopeful story about young lovers breaking class barriers to the global Netflix audience,” he added. 

In the 1996 film, John-John, the young Black protagonist, lives in a Stockholm suburb where one summer, he saves a child from drowning in the winter bay (called “vinterviken” in Swedish). When John-John meets the child’s well-to-do family, he falls in love with her sister, Elisabeth. What follows is a long and difficult path that John-John has to traverse to win his lady love. The new Netflix film will be set in contemporary Stockholm and will explore the budding romance between Elisabeth and John-John, who grow up in the same city but on different sides of the society’s class and culture boundaries. 

“Mats Wahl’s novel portrays a timeless theme: love beyond social status and class,” explains Vinterviken 2021’s producer, Teresa Alldén. She insists that the modern adaptation reflects contemporary Swedish society and is “a modern story about experiencing true love in a world full of prejudice and economic inequality.”

Vinterviken 2021 has company in Netflix’s expanding roster of Swedish-language originals. In 2017, the streaming giant commissioned the crime drama series, Quicksand and then followed it up with the dark comedy Anxious People in October 2019 and the crime drama Snabba Cash in June 2020. 

“We’re thrilled to be able to bring a contemporary version of this modern Swedish classic to a global audience and we believe that the universal themes of love, class differences and segregation will resonate with our audiences all over the world,” said Lina Brouneus, Director, Co-production and Acquisition, Netflix.