Patrik, Age 1.5 Is Third Must-See Film in a Row This Summer

First Stonewall Uprising. Then The Kids Are All Right. Now Patrik, Age 1.5. What a wonderful two months it has been this summer for must-see GLBT films!

Patrik, Age 1.5 (2008), written and directed by Swedish filmmaker Ella Lemhagen, is filmed beautifully. It’s in Swedish with English subtitles.

Göran Skoogh (Gustaf Skarsgård) and Sven Skoogh (Torkel Petersson) are a Swedish gay couple who just moved to a beautiful house in the suburbs. They have been approved to adopt a baby. It seems their dream has come true when the adoption agency tells them their child will be “Patrik, Age 1.5”—but because a decimal point was misplaced, they find themselves coping with a homophobic 15-year-old juvenile delinquent named Patrik (Thomas Ljungman) under their roof.

I won’t be a spoiler by revealing more of the plot. Suffice it to say that the situation brings difficult quandaries for all three principal characters. The plot is never predictable. Just when you think you have it all figured out, Lemhagen throws in a surprise to thwart what you were sure was going to happen. And the superb work of all three main actors makes for a delightful cinematic experience.

Patrik, Age 1.5 screens starting August 20 at Landmark Theatres.