Review: 'She Monkeys'

Film expert Niclas Goldberg takes a closer look at the new Swedish film 'She Monkeys' (Apflickorna) by director Lisa Aschan.  

  • The director Lisa Aschan graduated from The National Film School of Denmark. She received attention for "F**k the Rapist," a collection of fictional ads for spiked tampons. She also created a drama series for Danish TV channel DR1, attended the Royal University College of Fine Arts, and worked at the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm.
  • The film will be presented at the Film Festivals Tribeca in New York City and San Francisco. Screening times at the end of story.

  • "She Monkeys." Goldberg writes: "The pining is so graceful that you may be transfixed by it." Photo: Anna Liljekrantz
  • The new Swedish movie “She Monkeys” is so breathtakingly intense and refreshingly bold that it shines new radiance on the whole coming-of-age genre.

  • Linda Molin as Cassandra. "Apflickorna" was winner of the Dragon Award for best Nordic film at the prestigious Göteborg International Film Festival. Photo: Anna Liljekrantz
  • Having its North American premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, this stunner, helmed by debutante Lisa Aschan, captures the senses in a most beautiful way; the pining is so graceful that you may be transfixed by it.

  • Mathilda Paradeiser as Emma. "Apflickorna" - She Monkeys. Photo: Maria von Hausswolff
  • Set on the Swedish west coast, the film centers on two teenage girls. When Emma meets Cassandra in a riding stable where teens train to perform acrobatics on horseback, they initiate a relationship filled with physical and psychological challenges. Emma does whatever it takes to master the rules of the game but soon lines are crossed and the stakes are raised. Despite this, Emma can’t resist the intoxicating feeling of total control. Meanwhile, Emma’s younger sister Sara, who is in love with her cousin, initiates some startling, sexually charged experiments of her own.

  • Mathilda Paradeiser as Emma.
  • Described as a modern western about power, sex and creatures, and winner of the Dragon Award for best Nordic film at the prestigious Göteborg International Film Festival (one million SEK or $159,927), the film challenges our expectations of what remains to be explored about gender, control and the heartbreaking weight of jealousy. Aschan uses her talent to give a natural yet fiery quality to the film.

  • She Monkeys director Lisa Aschan. Photo: Maria von Hausswolff
  • Assured performances by the non-professional actors, the stimulating dialog and most importantly, the striking visual language all contribute to the film’s power. The charged situations create a sense of hazard. Being young should be taken seriously. In this film, it is.

  • Screening times, New York, at the Tribeca Film Festival:
    April 22, 05:30PM at Clearview Cinemas Chelsea 4
    April 29, 12:00PM at AMC Lowes Village 7 – 1
    April 30, 06:00PM at Clearview Cinemas Chelsea 7
    Tribeca Film Festival

  • Screening times, San Francisco, at the San Francisco Film Festival:
    April 25, 07:15PM at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas.
    April 26, 08:45PM at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas.
    Sundance Kabuki Cinemas

  • More info on the film: www.atmo.se/film- and-tv/shemonkeys

  • References to the different upcoming film venues here: Springtime for Nordic Film