Everybody Hates Johan

Hallvar Witzø's 2022 Norwegian film follows Johan, who lives with his horses and his explosives and is never accepted by the village. His unrequited love for the girl next door, whom he accidentally blew up in his youth, lasts a lifetime while he struggles to belong. The story spreads across years and the comedy comes from the repetition of disasters. Witzø's humour sits in the typical vein of Nordic black comedy: catastrophes are recounted calmly and nobody is surprised. Pål Sverre Hagen's performance makes the character stubborn rather than pitiful. The film's problem is that the woman remains the object of Johan's obsession rather than a person with her own wishes, which weakens the romantic frame. Who it's for: viewers who like Nordic black comedy and provincial character portraits. Who it's not for: anyone troubled by explosions and accidental injury used as comedy, or who will object to the woman character's passivity.