The Swedish Theory of Love

Erik Gandini's 2015 documentary questions a social aim Sweden adopted in the seventies: that the individual should be able to live without depending on anyone else. The film accepts that the aim was achieved and asks the real question: what came of it. Its most shattering figure is the number of people who die alone at home and go undiscovered for a long time; the camera moves through those flats with the crews who clean them. The account proceeds through sperm banks, the experience of immigrants and rates of single-person households. Gandini's thesis is strong but one-sided; the securities the Swedish model provides get almost no room, and that is the film's weakest point. Who it's for: viewers interested in social documentary and debates about the Nordic welfare model. Who it's not for: anyone wanting balanced analysis, or avoiding subjects of loneliness and death.