Film

The Storm

Name: The Storm
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Released: 2026
Cast: Gustaf Skarsgård, Aliette Opheim, Filip Berg, Josephine Bornebusch, Jonas Karlsson

Social drama

A Swedish comedy-drama about old friends trapped together during a storm, watching civility collapse into chaos. It's a chamber piece about how well we really know each other, played with sharp wit and genuine hurt. For anyone who's ever wondered what happens when masks slip among people who should know better.

TMDb rating

4.0

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy comedies where old friendships curdle slowly under pressure, with sharp, mean-spirited dialogue and a cast that commits to the ugliness of people who have known each other too long.

Skip it if you want warmth or a clean feel-good arc, since the film leans into resentment and cruelty between people who should know better, and that meanness may wear thin rather than land as funny.

What it asks of you: Expect a contained, single-setting piece that builds through escalating confrontations, so you need to settle in and tolerate discomfort as the social niceties give way.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Force Majeure2014

Ruben Östlund's masterpiece about a family vacation destroyed by an avalanche—a perfect companion piece exploring how quickly civilized people abandon their principles when tested.

But It's deliberately uncomfortable and builds its comedy from watching people fail morally. The pacing is glacial by design, which some find tedious.

The Dinner2017

Two couples at an expensive restaurant slowly reveal why they're really there. Like The Storm, it's about what simmers beneath politeness and how secrets detonate in enclosed spaces.

But It's bleak and takes a while to get going. The payoff requires patience and tolerance for genuinely unlikeable people.

Before We Die

Swedish crime drama where a mother discovers her son is involved in a murder. It shares that Scandinavian willingness to show family bonds fracturing under pressure, with dark humour threading through tragedy.

But It's considerably darker and more violent than The Storm. The tone shifts between genres in ways that don't always land smoothly.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Storm

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?1966

Both are chamber pieces about how intimacy becomes a weapon, and how much damage people can do to each other when there's nowhere to hide.

Mike Nichols' adaptation of Albee's play: two couples, one night, verbal warfare that strips away every pretense. It's the DNA of every 'civilized people destroying each other' story. Ferocious, brilliantly acted, and genuinely funny in the way The Storm is.

But It's in black and white, filmed as a play, and relies entirely on dialogue and performance. If you need visual spectacle or plot, this is painful. Also punishingly long.

In Order of Disappearance2014

Norwegian noir-comedy about a snowplow driver seeking revenge. Same region, same blend of understated humour with genuine stakes, characters who think they're civilized until they're not.

But It's a revenge thriller, so it goes places The Storm doesn't. The violence is real, which undercuts the comedy for some viewers.

Another Round2020

Danish film about middle-aged men testing whether alcohol improves their lives. Like The Storm, it's a group dynamic that starts playful and reveals uncomfortable truths about who these people actually are.

But It's deliberately ambiguous about whether to celebrate or mourn its characters. The ending divides audiences sharply.

The Killing2011

Danish crime series with that same Scandinavian precision about human nature. Trapped in investigation like The Storm's lodge, watching relationships corrode under pressure and revelation.

But It's heavy, methodical, and the first season is 20 episodes. Commitment required, and the darkness is relentless.

The Humans2021

A family gathers in a New York apartment for Thanksgiving. It's American rather than Scandinavian, but nails that same suffocation of proximity and the comedy-drama of people who love and resent each other.

But It's deliberately static, mostly one room, and the atmosphere is creeping dread. Some find it boring rather than suspenseful.

Happy as Lazzaro2018

Italian film about a naive man and the people who exploit him. Tonally adventurous, mixing comedy and quiet tragedy in ways that feel very current, about masks and what we owe each other.

But The tonal shifts are jarring—it doesn't feel like a conventional film. The pacing is deliberately strange and testing.

Cameraperson2016

Both films are ultimately about what happens when we stop performing for each other—here, when a camera stops performing its role as neutral observer.

Kirsten Johnson's documentary essay about her 20 years filming conflict zones. It's not a narrative film, but a meditation on witnessing, complicity, and what we choose to see or ignore—the philosophical opposite of The Storm's trapped perspective.

But It's formally experimental and meditative rather than dramatic. It moves at its own pace and refuses easy conclusions. Many will find it abstract and remote.