Jury Critic Brogen Hayes on why three young actresses stood out in We Are The Best!
The journey from child to teenager is a path that rarely runs smooth; as we change, our relationships with friends, family and the world around us changes too. The journey is often observed in cinema, but rarely with such sincerity and warmth than in Lukas Moodysson’s upcoming film, We Are The Best! (Vi är bäst!) which previews as part of the IFI's Rock' n 'Roll season Saturday 29th March at 18.30 and is released on 18th April.
The film follows three young girls, Bobo (Mira Barkhammar) and Klara (Mira Grosin), who are best friends, in the way that only pre-teen girls can be. The performances of the three lead actresses depend on one another in a truly remarkable way; the chemistry between the three is wonderful and they allow the power to shift between them, leaving room for jealousies, arguments and ultimately, resolutions. The struggle that each of the characters goes through in their family lives is utterly relatable. That said, however, We Are The Best is ultimately an uplifting film about the delirium of childhood and the joy of finding good friends.
In the end, it is the chemistry between the three young actresses that carries the film; it is also the reason that audiences will fall in love with the film and the journey these girls go on. It is hard to imagine the film working as well without the strong ensemble performance at its heart, so when considering the film as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival jury, we finally decided to jointly award Best Actress to Barkhammar, Grosin and LeMoyne.
We Are The Best! is a careful and precise observation of the journey between childhood and adolescence, and the friends who last us a lifetime. Barkhammar, Grosin and LeMoyne are wonderful in their roles, and utterly support one another. In the end, We Are The Best! is charming, warm and a whole lot of fun.
Brogen Hayes, Deputy Editor of Movies.ie and Jury Member of Dublin Film Critic's Circle 2014