The Swedish film En underbar jävla jul was shown in the U.S. with the title Holy Mess (2015). (If you go to Google Translate, you'll learn that the original Swedish title is quite a bit more colorful. "Jul" in this context means "Yule.") The movie was co-written and directed by Helena Bergström. Bergström also plays a supporting role.
This is an ensemble film, in which a dozen people gather together at the home of a gay couple for Christmas Eve. Once you know that, you can pretty much predict the plot-- homophobic parents, an aging grandmother, a surrogate mother, etc.
In a movie like this, success or failure depends on the quality of the acting. These actors are very talented and capable. In fact, they are so good that I won't try to single out any of them for special praise. Not only is each actor competent, but they play well in ensemble.
This film has a terrible 5.8 IMDb rating. It's not a great film, but it's much better than that.
We saw this movie at the excellent Little Theatre, as part of the wonderful ImageOut Rochester LGBT Film Festival. It will also work well on the small screen.
A Holy Mess is one of 22 films that had their New York State premiere, or their East Coast premiere, at ImageOut. My compliments to the ImageOut Programming Committee for their great success in bringing these films to Rochester.
