Goliat

An intense and moving thriller-drama, built around a father-son relationship.

Kim is 17 years old, and lives in a minor Swedish city, marked by discontinued industry sites, unemployment, and abandonment. His dad, Roland, deals drugs in order to make ends meet, and social services are threatening to take Kim’s two younger siblings away from the family.

When Roland has to do some hard time, the family want Kim to take his place in the drugs league. However, he’s also offered an internship and with it, hopes for a better future, in a different city – an opportunity for him to break away from the violently masculine community he’s grown up in. But then, who would provide for the family? What would become of his younger siblings?

Director Peter Grönlund won several awards for his debut feature Drifters (2015), and in his second film he carries on portraying people who somehow end up on the outside of society. At times it all becomes painfully realistic. A handful of very impressive amateur actors provide a gripping image of the ways in which social heritage, a deep-rooted distrust in authorities, and various coincidences might decide and limit the evolution of a person’s life. The character of Kim is masterfully interpreted by Sebastian Ljungblad, who won the Swedish Guldbagge award for Best Actor for his work.