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FUCKING ÅMÅL

SHOW ME LOVE

                                    Story

Agnes family moved to Åmål more than a year ago. But still she has few friends and trouble fitting in. Despite all this she has thrown a party for her 16th birthday on her mother's 'strong' request. Because she hasn't any friends her invitations are not well received at school. As accpected nobody, besides for Victoria (a pseudo-friend who she doesn't really like, but just pretends because they don't have anybody else) showed up. The "party" comes to it's end with a fight between Agnes and Viktoria. Viktoria leaves Agnes' house.

Agnes response to Victoria when she gave her perfume for her birthdaypresent:

"Well, I can't accept this. I'm sorry, but I can actually not accept this. (...) If this is the best you can do, I think you rather can refrain from it. And you can go home, and bring your perfume with you. We're only hanging together because we have no one else to be with, so then you and I have to be pals instead, or what? Do you know what the dull I've ever done in my life is? Do you know what? It was when you and I were at wheelchair-basket in Karlstad. Do you know what, I won't be friend with a CP-damaged idiot who listens to Backstreet Boys or Arvingarna or I don't know what kind of shit you listen to."


Although she's one of the most popular girls at school, Elin also has some troubles and wants something more out of live. She wants to go to raves in Stockholm, meet interesting people... She blames all her problems on Åmål, she hates it. Elin doesn't want to be ordinary, she wants to be different than the rest.

To everybody's surprise Elin and Jessica ( Elin's sister) have come to Agnes party late at night. Elin convinced her siter to go because she thought Agnes might know somedbody interesting and he would be at her party. They are given a bottle of wine and shown to Agnes' room by Agnes' mother. [Agnes is still somewhere else at this time.] Jessica mentions that she heard Agnes is a lesbian. Elin replies that she thinks that's cool, and says she would also like to be a lesbian. Jessica makes a bet with Elin and dares her to kiss Agnes for twenty skr.

Elin accepts the bet and kisses Anges and than runs away laughing with Jessica, leaving Agnes behind with lipstick all over her face. Agnes, totally out of the blue, doesn't know what to do. She has been kissed by her true love, but on the other hand she knows they were only making fun with her.

After their little confrontation with Agnes, Elin and Jessica go to a party. At first Elin shows a bit remorse and wants to go back, but finally she listens to her sister. At the party Jessica tells to the "popular clique" that Elin had kissed Agnes. Camilla, a girl in the clique phones Agnes.

Camilla on the phone with Agnes:

"Is it Agnes? Yes, I just wanted you to know that I'm so fucking horny on you. Why can't... Why can't I come home to you so we could lick each other or something... "

Agnes doesn't know how she has to deal with the emotions she has just experienced. Desperately she tries to cut her wrists with a razorblade. Luckily her attempt is stopped when her father knocks on her door. When her father leaves, she closes the door, puts on loud music and continues to try to cut her wrists. Suddenly she hears something at her window and stops her 'actions' when she sees Elin below her window.

She invintes her into her room and Elin apologises for what happened earlier. She asks Agnes some questions about her being a lesbian. She says she understands her, because all boys are scum anyway. She blames all their problems on Åmål. If they had lived in a bigger city, there wouldn't have been any problems.

Elin towards Agnes:

"If you'd lived in Stockholm for example, then you could have got as many girls you wanted. "

They leave Agnes' house to go to the party. After a while they decide not to go after all and hitchhike to Stockholm. This crazy idea was originally Elin's, but it's Agnes who insists to go through with it. When there finally is a car that stops, they are kicked out by the driver when they were kissing in the back seat. They decide to go home, but Elin promises she will call Agnes.

For the firste time in a long time things start to look good in Agnes' life. But this soon fades away when Elin doesn't call her and starts to ignore  her. Elin is very confused and has mixed feelings.

She has so many questions and nobody to turn to. When she's watching television with her mother, she says to her she's a lesbian. When she doesn't get the 'right' response she quickly says she was just joking. The following time Elin lives in isolation with her thoughts. Jessica thinks she's hiding something from her. She things Elin's been seeing Jessica's boyfriend Markus after her back. Elin realises she has to say something to explain her strange behaving towards the others. She says the reason why she's been acting so strange is because she's in love with somebody. Although she doesn't say who, Jessica "knows" it's Johan Hult. She sets up a plan so that Johan and Elin can meet each other. One thing comes to another, and before you know it Elin, who was a virgin, has sex with Johan.

In the mean time several things happen. Victoria wants to exploit her knowledge about Agnes and in an attempt to become popular , she tells everybody who wants to know, that Agnes is a lesbian. Because of this, Oskar, Agnes' little brother, heard from a friend of his that Agnes is a lesbian. He doesn't know what it means so he asks his mother. She seems shocked and decides to look in her daughters diary (on Agnes' computer) in hopes of finding some answers. When she confronts Agnes, Agnes gets really mad and 'throws' her out of her room.

Elin on the other hand gets more and more upset by the way Johan is acting towards her. Although Johan has good intentions, he's afraid of showing them in front of his friends. Elin decides to break up with him, and does this over the phone. Although she has been avoiding Agnes and supressing any feelings towards her, she has been thinking a lot about Agnes. Elin knows now that she really feels something for Agnes. She decides to go and see her, but runs away when she breaks Agnes' window by accident.

The next morning at school Elin takes all her courage and decides to confront Agnes. She pushes Agnes into one of the toilets. Agnes who has lost all faith in Elin, and thinks she just pulling another prank on her, wants to get out. But Elin insists that she listens to what she has to say. She tries to explain to Agnes that she's really interested in her and thinks she loves her.
Agnes, still doesn't believe it right away.
Meanwhile the whole school have gather around the toiletdoor, because they think Elin is making out there with a boy. Agnes and Elin are trapped in the toilet. Agnes wants to know if Elin really means what she said and then decides to go out.

Elin towards the crowd around the toilet:

Ta-dam. Here I am. Here's my new girl! Could you move? And if you'll excuse us now, we're going to fuck.

And with that they walk away, hand in hand, laughing.

Later on we see Elin and Agnes in Elin's house. They have a meaningless, but rather funny, conversation about chocolate milk (O'boy). Elin tells Agnes she often puts too much powder in the milk. Agnes laughs, and with that the film ends.

                                    My opinion

Coming soon ... I've already written it, but I think I've lost it somewhere.

"This is all I ask of a movie about teenagers: That they be as smart, as confused, as good-hearted and as insecure as the kids I went to high school with." ROGER EBERT, Chicago Sun-Times