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Essential Swedish Cinema

Persona (1966)
Ingmar Bergman · 108 critic votes
Streaming on Criterion Channel, HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max
A young nurse, Alma, is put in charge of Elisabeth Vogler: an actress who is seemingly healthy in all respects, but will not talk. As they spend time together, Alma speaks to Elisabeth constantly, never receiving any answer.
Wild Strawberries (1957)
Ingmar Bergman · 38 critic votes
Streaming on Kanopy, Criterion Channel, HBO Max Amazon Channel
Crotchety retired doctor Isak Borg travels from Stockholm to Lund, Sweden, with his pregnant and unhappy daughter-in-law, Marianne, in order to receive an honorary degree from his alma mater. Along the way, they encounter a series of hitchhikers, each of whom causes the elderly doctor to muse upon the pleasures and failures of his own life. These include the vivacious young Sara, a dead ringer for the doctor's own first love.
Fanny and Alexander (1982)
Ingmar Bergman · 35 critic votes
Free on Tubi TV, Shout! Factory TV, Plex · Streaming on Kanopy, HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max
As children in the loving Ekdahl family, Fanny and Alexander enjoy a happy life with their parents, who run a theater company. After their father dies unexpectedly, however, the siblings end up in a joyless home when their mother, Emilie, marries a stern bishop. The bleak situation gradually grows worse as the bishop becomes more controlling, but dedicated relatives make a valiant attempt to aid Emilie, Fanny and Alexander.
The Seventh Seal (1957)
Ingmar Bergman · 31 critic votes
Free on Tubi TV, YouTube Free, Plex · Streaming on Kanopy, Criterion Channel, HBO Max Amazon Channel
When disillusioned Swedish knight Antonius Block returns home from the Crusades to find his country in the grips of the Black Death, he challenges Death to a chess match for his life. Tormented by the belief that God does not exist, Block sets off on a journey, meeting up with traveling players Jof and his wife, Mia, and becoming determined to evade Death long enough to commit one redemptive act while he still lives.
Cries and Whispers (1972)
Ingmar Bergman · 18 critic votes
Streaming on Criterion Channel, HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max
As Agnes slowly dies of cancer, her sisters are so immersed in their own psychic pains that they are unable to offer her the support she needs.
Winter Light (1963)
Ingmar Bergman · 10 critic votes
Streaming on Criterion Channel
A Swedish pastor fails a loving woman, a suicidal fisherman and God.
Songs from the Second Floor (2000)
Roy Andersson · 10 critic votes
Streaming on Criterion Channel
A monumental traffic jam serves as the backdrop for the lives of the inhabitants of a Swedish city.
The Phantom Carriage (1921)
Victor Sjöström · 7 critic votes
Free on JustWatch TV · Streaming on Criterion Channel, IndieFlix, IndieFlix Shorts Amazon Channel
An alcoholic, abusive ne'er-do-well is shown the error of his ways through a legend that dooms the last person to die on New Year's Eve before the clock strikes twelve to take the reins of Death's chariot and work tirelessly collecting fresh souls for the next year.
Scenes from a Marriage (1974)
Ingmar Bergman · 7 critic votes
Streaming on Kanopy, Criterion Channel, HBO Max Amazon Channel
Johan and Marianne are married and seem to have it all. Their happiness, however, is a façade for a troubled relationship, which becomes even rockier when Johan admits that he's having an affair. Before long, the spouses separate and move towards finalizing their divorce, but they make attempts at reconciling. Even as they pursue other relationships, Johan and Marianne realize that they have a significant bond, but also many issues that hinder that connection.
The Silence (1963)
Ingmar Bergman · 6 critic votes
Streaming on Criterion Channel
Traveling through an unnamed European country on the brink of war, sickly, intellectual Ester, her sister Anna and Anna's young son, Johan, check into a near-empty hotel. A basic inability to communicate among the three seems only to worsen during their stay. Anna provokes her sister by enjoying a dalliance with a local man, while the boy, left to himself, has a series of enigmatic encounters that heighten the growing air of isolation.
Shame (1968)
Ingmar Bergman · 6 critic votes
Streaming on Criterion Channel
In the midst of a civil war, a pair of former violinists in a tempestuous marriage oversee a farm on a rural island. In spite of their best efforts to escape their homeland, the war impinges on every aspect of their lives.
The Virgin Spring (1960)
Ingmar Bergman · 5 critic votes
Streaming on Kanopy, Criterion Channel
Devout Christians Töre and Märeta send their only daughter, the virginal Karin, and their foster daughter, the unrepentant Ingeri, to deliver candles to a distant church. On their way through the woods, the girls encounter a group of savage goat herders who brutally rape and murder Karin as Ingeri remains hidden. When the killers unwittingly seek refuge in the farmhouse of Töre and Märeta, Töre plots a fitting revenge.
Ingeborg Holm (1913)
Victor Sjöström · 4 critic votes
After Ingeborg Holm's husband becomes sick and dies, the family's small grocery store fails, Ingeborg becomes bankrupt, and she is forced to move to the workhouse. Her three children go to foster homes. Ingeborg simply must see them again.
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014)
Roy Andersson · 4 critic votes
Free on Tubi TV, YouTube Free, Fandango at Home Free · Streaming on Kanopy, Philo, Magnolia Selects Amazon Channel
An absurdist, surrealistic and shocking pitch-black comedy, which moves freely from nightmare to fantasy to hilariously deadpan humour as it muses on man’s perpetual inhumanity to man.
Force Majeure (2014)
Ruben Östlund · 4 critic votes
Free on Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, Fandango at Home Free · Streaming on Kanopy, Hoopla, Philo
While holidaying in the French Alps, a Swedish family deals with acts of cowardliness as an avalanche breaks out.
A Swedish Love Story (1970)
Roy Andersson · 3 critic votes
The puppy love of two teenagers is set against a backdrop of adults struggling with their own lives. As a couple in love, they don't care about anything but themselves and seem totally unaware about everything that surrounds them.
Autumn Sonata (1978)
Ingmar Bergman · 3 critic votes
Streaming on Criterion Channel, HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max
After a seven-year absence, Charlotte Andergast travels to Sweden to reunite with her daughter Eva. The pair have a troubled relationship: Charlotte sacrificed the responsibilities of motherhood for a career as a classical pianist. Over an emotional night, the pair reopen the wounds of the past. Charlotte gets another shock when she finds out that her mentally impaired daughter, Helena, is out of the asylum and living with Eva.
You, the Living (2007)
Roy Andersson · 3 critic votes
In the Swedish city of Lethe, people from different walks of life take part in a series of short, deadpan vignettes that rush past. Some are just seconds long, none longer than a couple of minutes. A young woman remembers a fantasy honeymoon with a rock guitarist. A man awakes from a dream about bomber planes. A businessman boasts about success while being robbed by a pickpocket, and so on. The absurdist collection is accompanied by Dixieland jazz and similar music.
A Man There Was (1917)
Victor Sjöström · 2 critic votes
Free on JustWatch TV · Streaming on Criterion Channel
Terje Vigen, a sailor, suffers the loss of his family through the inflexibility of another man. Years later, when his enemy's family finds itself dependent on his benevolence, Terje must decide whether to avenge himself.
Sir Arne's Treasure (1919)
Mauritz Stiller · 2 critic votes
Free on JustWatch TV
Three Scottish officers, including Sir Archi, murder Sir Arne and his household for a coffin filled with gold. The only survivor is Elsalill, who moves to relatives in Marstrand. There she meets a charming young officer- Sir Archi- and she soon understands that he was one of the murderers.
Häxan (1922)
Benjamin Christensen · 2 critic votes
Free on JustWatch TV, Darkroom, Bloodstream · Streaming on GuideDoc, Kanopy, Criterion Channel
Grave robbing, torture, possessed nuns, and a satanic Sabbath: Benjamin Christensen's legendary film uses a series of dramatic vignettes to explore the scientific hypothesis that the witches of the Middle Ages suffered the same hysteria as turn-of-the-century psychiatric patients. But the film itself is far from serious-- instead it's a witches' brew of the scary, gross, and darkly humorous.
Summer with Monika (1953)
Ingmar Bergman · 2 critic votes
Streaming on Kanopy, Criterion Channel
One summer day, two teens begin a reckless affair and abandon their families to be with one another.
Hour of the Wolf (1968)
Ingmar Bergman · 2 critic votes
Streaming on Criterion Channel, TCM
While vacationing on a remote German island with his younger pregnant wife, an artist has an emotional breakdown while confronting his repressed desires.
The Emigrants (1971)
Jan Troell · 2 critic votes
Free on YouTube Free
Karl and Kristina Nilsson work on a farm in a cold and desolate area of 19th century rural Sweden. Growing privations, combined with increasing social and religious persecution, motivate the Nilssons and many of their neighbors to strike out for the United States. Following a treacherous ocean crossing and an equally grueling land passage, the emigrants find themselves in seemingly idyllic Minnesota.
The Square (2017)
Ruben Östlund · 2 critic votes
Free on The Roku Channel, Fandango at Home Free · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Kanopy, Hoopla
A prestigious Stockholm museum's chief art curator finds himself in times of both professional and personal crisis as he attempts to set up a controversial new exhibit.
Erotikon (1920)
Mauritz Stiller · 1 critic vote
Free on JustWatch TV · Streaming on Fawesome
Erotikon is a 1920 Swedish romantic comedy film directed by Mauritz Stiller, starring Tora Teje, Karin Molander, Anders de Wahl and Lars Hanson. It is based on the 1917 play A kék róka by Ferenc Herczeg. The story revolves around an entomology professor obsessed with the sexual life of bugs, and his easygoing wife who is courted by two suitors.
Två människor (1945)
Carl Theodor Dreyer · 1 critic vote
Set entirely in one room, an innocent young man is accused of plagiarising the work of an old professor. Later, he is blamed for the professor's murder.
Summer Interlude (1951)
Ingmar Bergman · 1 critic vote
Free on Darkroom · Streaming on Criterion Channel
During a brief summer vacation, a lonely woman recalls her first love thirteen years earlier.
Sawdust and Tinsel (1953)
Ingmar Bergman · 1 critic vote
Free on Darkroom · Streaming on Criterion Channel, HBO Max Amazon Channel
A number of complicated relationships develop between a circus ringmaster, his estranged wife and his lover.
The Great Adventure (1953)
Arne Sucksdorff · 1 critic vote
Free on Plex, Plex Channel · Streaming on Metrograph
Arne Sucksdorff’s celebrated nature film follows two brothers in rural Sweden as they witness a fox raid and secretly raise an orphaned otter. Told through an adult’s memories, it reflects on childhood, nature, and the fragile balance between wilderness and civilization. The film won the International Prize at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival.
Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)
Ingmar Bergman · 1 critic vote
Free on Darkroom · Streaming on Criterion Channel
Early in the 20th century, middle-aged lawyer Fredrik Egerman and his young wife, Anne, have still not consummated their marriage, while Fredrik's son finds himself increasingly attracted to his new stepmother. To make matters worse, Fredrik's old flame Desiree makes a public bet that she can seduce him at a romantic weekend retreat where four couples convene, swapping partners and pairing off in unexpected ways.
Buffalo Bill in 27 Forms (1958)
Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd · 1 critic vote
Derives from the pattern that appears when two celluloid sheets painted with different patterns are moved over one and other. (Filmform)
Barnvagnen (1963)
Bo Widerberg · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Criterion Channel
A tale of a young woman, Britt, who has two flings, but finds herself with difficult decisions when she finds herself pregnant.
Loving Couples (1964)
Mai Zetterling · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Criterion Channel
As three pregnant women wait to have their babies in a hospital in Stockholm at the outbreak of the Great War, they relive their childhood and youthful experiences.
Here's Your Life (1966)
Jan Troell · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Criterion Channel
A working class teenager comes of age in 1910s rural Sweden, moving through a series of jobs and romances that gradually shape his future.
Night Games (1966)
Mai Zetterling · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Criterion Channel
A man on the verge of marriage is haunted by traumatic memories from his childhood.
Ådalen 31 (1969)
Bo Widerberg · 1 critic vote
Free on Mometu · Streaming on Criterion Channel
A film about the 1931 Ådalen shootings, in which Swedish military forces opened fire against labour demonstrators in the Swedish sawmill district of Ådalen.
The Man on the Roof (1976)
Bo Widerberg · 1 critic vote
When an inspector is murdered in hospital, the investigation led by Detective Martin Beck uncovers reports of misconduct and possibly revenge.
In the Presence of a Clown (1997)
Ingmar Bergman · 1 critic vote
In 1925, eccentric inventor and Franz Schubert devotee Carl Åkerblom is confined to a psychiatric ward in Uppsala after attempting to murder his fiancée. Obsessed with death, music, and the future of cinema, he joins forces with a fellow patient to create a “living talkie,” an experimental film performance with live-spoken dialogue. As the project unfolds, art, madness, and mortality collide in a tragicomic reflection on creativity and human frailty.
Show Me Love (1998)
Lukas Moodysson · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Fandor Amazon Channel, BFI Player Amazon Channel, ARROW
Two teenage girls in small-town Sweden. Elin is beautiful, popular, and bored with life. Agnes is friendless, sad, and secretly in love with Elin.
Lilya 4-ever (2002)
Lukas Moodysson · 1 critic vote
Free on Cineverse · Streaming on Kanopy, Fandor Amazon Channel, BFI Player Amazon Channel
In a struggling post-Soviet community, Lilya a teenage girl is abandoned when her mother moves to the United States with her boyfriend. Facing neglect and poverty, she meets Andrei, who offers her a job in Sweden, giving her hope for a better life — and a journey that will change everything.
Saraband (2003)
Ingmar Bergman · 1 critic vote
Reuniting the characters of Johan and Marianne three decades after "Scenes from a Marriage," "Saraband" follows Marianne’s visit to her reclusive ex-husband, where she finds him locked in a destructive conflict with his troubled son Henrik and Henrik’s musically gifted daughter Karin. Told as an intimate chamber drama, the film explores love, resentment, forgiveness, and the inescapable pull of family bonds.
Container (2006)
Lukas Moodysson · 1 critic vote
Streaming on ARROW
Poetic, experimental and different, Container is described by Lukas Moodysson as "a black and white silent movie with sound" and with the following words; "A woman in a man's body. A man in a woman's body. Jesus in Mary's stomach. The water breaks. It floods into me. I can't close the lid. My heart is full."
Let the Right One In (2008)
Tomas Alfredson · 1 critic vote
Free on Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, YouTube Free · Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Kanopy, Hoopla
When Oskar, a sensitive, bullied 12-year-old boy, meets his new neighbor, the mysterious and moody Eli, they strike up a friendship. Initially reserved with each other, Oskar and Eli slowly form a close bond, but it soon becomes apparent that she is no ordinary young girl.
With Every Heartbeat (2011)
Alexandra-Therese Keining · 1 critic vote
Free on Xumo Play
After they meet at their parent's engagement party, Mia and Frida are intrigued by and attracted to one another, despite Mia's own upcoming engagement to Tim. Mia must decide whether to continue her life with Tim or to follow her heart with Frida.
Aniara (2019)
Pella Kågerman, Hugo Lilja · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Kanopy, Hoopla
A ship carrying settlers to a new home on Mars after Earth is rendered uninhabitable is knocked off-course, causing the passengers to consider their place in the universe.
Triangle of Sadness (2022)
Ruben Östlund · 1 critic vote
Streaming on Netflix, Kanopy, Netflix Standard with Ads
A celebrity model couple are invited on a luxury cruise for the uber-rich, helmed by an unhinged, alcoholic captain. What first appears Instagrammable ends catastrophically, leaving the survivors stranded on a desert island in a struggle of hierarchy.
Crossing (2024)
Levan Akin · 1 critic vote
Streaming on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel
Lia, a retired teacher from Georgia, learns from her young neighbor, Achi, that her long-lost transgender niece, Tekla, has crossed the border into Turkey. In search of Tekla, Lia travels to Istanbul with the unpredictable Achi, where they explore the hidden depths of the city.

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Essential Swedish Cinema

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