In Je M’appelle Agneta, Agneta (Eva Melander) is living a bland middle-aged life in Sweden with a husband who doesn’t seem to see her and who thinks her love for everything France is childish. When a job appears in the newspaper for a Swedish-speaking au pair in France, Agneta sees it as her perfect chance to break out of her bubble and finally experience something novel for herself.
Directed by Johanna Runevad and written by Isabel Nylund, this Netflix Original, based on an Emma Hamberg novel of the same name, takes a rapid turn when Agneta discovers that her charge, Einar (Claes Månsson), is not a young boy, but rather an old man.
At first, Einar seems like a cranky old shut-in. But it turns out that he has an insatiable zest for life that quickly rubs off on Agneta.
It’s not every day that a movie centers on characters quite like Je M’appelle Agneta’s.
Einar, it turns out, is gay, and while he’s spent his older years proudly and loudly so, it strained his younger life and wrested away his relationship with his son. So while Einar is helping Agneta break out of her shell and learn to live a little, Agneta is committed to helping Einar live more truly by reconnecting with his son.
While some of Je M’appelle Agneta’s plot is fairly generic, the circumstances and characters are not. There are obvious beats to follow for a movie about a middle-aged woman and an older man coming to terms with the lives they’ve led. Je M’appelle Agneta certainly follows those beats closely. But still, it’s not every day that a movie centers on a middle-aged woman rediscovering her libido and an older man living a loud, proud gay life.
The movie may be formulaic, but it’s a novel turn on the formula. Agneta is easy to root for, not just because her husband is so unsupportive by comparison, but because Melander plays her with complete enthusiasm. She eats and loves with no reservations. As Einor helps her break down her outer walls, Agneta becomes just as happy and as full of life as Einor.
Claes Månsson’s performance makes Je M’appelle Agneta’s predictable plot worth watching.
Einor, for his part, tells his backstory with great zeal. The way he dresses and walks belies a darker undercurrent. It’s fun to watch his antics and his fun, especially as it gets Agneta into the same mood. But when the more dour parts of Einor’s story start coming to the fore, Je M’appelle Agneta recedes into anodyne territory.
At least, until the fourth act, when Einor gets to confront some of his deepest fears, and things don’t exactly go as expected. While things do continue down an expected chain of scenes, Claes Månsson delivers a pretty good performance.
He puts a hefty amount of emotion into a scene that could otherwise have felt like a mere paint-by-numbers. There would have been nothing wrong with that paint or the numbers, necessarily, but it’s nice to have a bit of extra shine on things.
Je M’appelle Agneta is a nice take on a double self-discovery tale.
The true ending, however, is a total delight. It makes pure mirth of an expected but deserved conclusion. No matter how many times you’ve seen an ending like it, it still feels novel.
A perfect needle drop into the credits elevates the triumph. Nothing overstays its welcome or overstates itself; the movie ends on a big win.
Je M’appelle Agneta is a nice take on a double self-discovery tale. The older-than-usual characters bring a somewhat standard first half to an exciting ending. No matter how many times you’ve seen a similar story, this one ends on a high worth the while.
Je M’appelle Agneta is streaming now on Netflix.
Je M’appelle Agneta
7/10
TL;DR
No matter how many times you’ve seen a similar story, Je M’appelle Agneta ends on a high worth the while.