Premise: Goran and Sven have been cleared for adoption and are given the option to adopt Swedish orphan “Patrik 1,5,” but when Patrik arrives, he turns out not to be the little boy they were expecting. A comma was misplaced, and the boy they receive is a 15-year-old homophobe with a criminal past.

Review: I saw this movie before but decided to revisited it during the holidays, and it’s as sweet and heartfelt as I remembered and more. And again, it’s based on a play so I can talk about here.

The first time I saw this movie I was focused on the gayness of this couple. I saw microagressions and the thinly veilled homophobia they – Göran more than Sven – had to put up with. I was so focused on how they might and could be rejected that I didn’t remember the cracks in their relationship. I remembered two guys trying to make a life and a family together and having to overcome a lot because they were Queer.

Now, I see more of the dynamic in the couple itself, I see their struggles as individuals, how they’re not exactly in step with each other, and how each of them deal with that. I like how what they’re going through in their relationship is not a Queer couple thing, but something that any couple can go through. Gustaf Skarsgård‘s Göran is a kind and patient man because he puts up with a lot, particularly from Sven, I’m not sure how he does it but good on him.

It’s a beautiful movie about family, compromises, and relationships.