A Nearly Normal Family: Review
By Sioph LealBased on the novel by Mattias Evardsson, A Nearly Normal Family follows the Sandell family. Stella Sandell (Alexandra Karlsson Tyrefors) is from a normal family that lives in a polished residential suburb outside of Lund. Her mother, Ulrika (Lo Kauppi), is a lawyer, and her father, Adam (Björn Bengtsson), is a priest. One day, everything changes, and their relatively normal lives are torn apart when nineteen-year-old Stella is arrested for murder. Her parents want to help Stella any way they can, but the more that is revealed, the more they each think about how much they truly know each other, especially their daughter.
Years before the murder of Christoffer Olsen (Christian Fandango Sundgren), Stella is raped by her netball coach, and that event sets up the rest of her life. She forgoes any interest in school, and her relationship with her family is destroyed when her mother convinces her not to come forward out of concern that she would be interrogated only to not be believed or nothing happening to her rapist. It sets up the relationship with her parents, which affects the core of the mystery. Her mother is cold, and her father does not understand her.
Unlike the book, Adam is not the main character, and the three points of view of the novel are incorporated with different perspectives of the Sandell family that can change throughout the episode and the season. Stella takes centre stage, with her relationship to Chris playing a huge part due to his murder.
Stella is determined and cautious, but she wants to experience the world. It is a joy to watch her navigate parental stresses and her aspirations, which differ from those around her and what is expected of her. Unlike her friend, Amina (Melisa Ferhatovic), Stella wants to see the world while furthering her education, and even though we see how her life has evolved from the rape, the scars still linger and affect every interaction. In her bag, Stella keeps pepper spray, even as she excitedly gets ready for a date with Chris, she is cautious and still clearly affected by the trauma from years previous as she lingers on taking the pepper spray- clearly still affected. Stella struggles with all her relationships; the disconnect in all of them is clear, and something she even states to her prison psychologist, lamenting how her mother wishes Amina were her daughter and that her father doesn’t know her. Despite her trauma, Stella remains a compelling figure in the murder and mystery of Chris Olsen. There are times where you will be resolute in her innocence, then in her guilt, through a charming and raw performance.
Part of the appeal of the series is the age-old question: how far would you go to protect someone you love? It is the core theme of the series for all characters but, most notably, Stella’s parents, and runs perfectly alongside the mystery even when the killer and motive are revealed. When the Sandell family interacts with each other, they are apathetic, cold, and seem preoccupied with other things, but when they are in their solitude, you can see how deeply they care. Unknown to each other, the parents prove they are anything but indifferent to their daughter or her situation as they sabotage the investigation in their own way and without the other knowing. In contrast to that, Ulrika stands out as a mysterious, compelling character, originally unlikable, that goes above and beyond for her daughter and her friend in ways that drive the story forward and make for a gripping mystery.
At the centre of the story is the mystery of who killed Chris, but with each episode, you will have a new suspect and doubt every character, even if you think they had no interaction with Chris. It is a testament to the director, writer, and cast for creating a gripping mystery that leaves you hanging on every clue and revelation.
While Adam was an intriguing character in the book, he becomes a little redundant in the series. A priest who is willing to lie and sabotage an investigation to protect his own could have been an interesting arc, but the show correctly decided to focus on Stella. She is at the heart of the story, so it makes sense to see her life and her parents, but their own drama pales in comparison to her story. Adam in particular can be wrapped around his own situation at work and his troubled marriage with Ulrika, but Bengtsson portrays the anguish Adam feels, which culminates in one of his final scenes when Ulrika asks if he wants to know how Chris died and he refuses. On reflection, his apathy can come off as cold, but Bengtsson manages to keep it layered and anguished over his beliefs as a priest and his desire to protect his daughter. Since Adam has not mastered the art of lying like his lawyer wife, refusing to know what happened could be for the best.
It is not a typical Nordic crime thriller but an interesting combination of American suspense and Scandinavian noir. The mystery is explored with nuance and a clever use of flashbacks to propel the mystery and keep you gripped and guessing for answers. This is a sure recommendation for anyone who loves a crime thriller mixed with a complex family dynamic. The growing list of suspects and motivations of all characters and their actions create a satisfying thriller driven by raw emotion and doing whatever it takes to protect and avenge those you love.