''Becoming Astrid'' (, ) is a 2018

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curric ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

about the early life of Swedish author

Astrid Lindgren Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren (; ; 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays. She is best known for several children's book series, featuring Pippi Longstocking, Emil i Lönneberga, Emil of Lönneberga, ...

. An

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint vent ...

between Sweden and Denmark, the film is directed by

Pernille Fischer Christensen Pernille Fischer Christensen (born 24 December 1969) is a Danish film director and the older sister of actress Stine Fischer Christensen. She started out in the movie business when she was 20 years old as an assistant to . During that time, Gis ...

, from a screenplay co-written by Christensen and

Kim Fupz Aakeson Kim Fupz Aakeson (born 1958) is a Danish writer, illustrator, and screenwriter. Early life Kim Fupz Aakeson was born in 1958. Career Aakeson is a Danish writer, illustrator, and screenwriter. He is the co-author of a series of children's book ...

, and stars

Alba August 1993 births Living people Actresses from Copenhagen Danish film actresses Danish television actresses English-language singers from Sweden Swedish child actresses Swedish film actresses Swedish television actresses 21st-century Danish act ...

and Maria Fahl Vikander as young and elder incarnations of Lindgren, alongside

Maria Bonnevie Anna ''Maria'' Cecilia Bonnevie (born 26 September 1973 in Västerås, Sweden) is a Swedes, Swedish-Norwegians, Norwegian actor, actress. Bonnevie received both national and international acclaim for her performance in the Scandinavian epic ''I ...

Magnus Krepper Rolf Magnus Krepper (born 10 January 1967 in Norrköping, Sweden) is a Swedish actor, dancer, singer, and magician. He is a member of ''Moderna Illusionisters Cirkel''. In 2006, Krepper received the Guldbagge Award for best male role in the 20 ...

Trine Dyrholm Trine Dyrholm (; born 15 April 1972) is a Danish actress, singer and songwriter. Dyrholm received national recognition when she placed third in the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix as a 14-year-old singer. Four years later, she again achieved national r ...

, Henrik Rafaelsen and

Björn Gustafsson Lars Björn Gustafsson (born 19 February 1986) is a Swedish comedian and actor. He is known from TV shows such as '' Parlamentet'' and '' Stockholm Live''. Early and personal life Gustafsson was born in Gothenburg, Sweden. He studied at the ...

. The film premiered at the

68th Berlin International Film Festival The 68th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 15 to 25 February 2018. German filmmaker Tom Tykwer served as Jury President. American film director Wes Anderson's animated film ''Isle of Dogs (film), Isle of Dogs'' opened th ...

on 21 February 2018, and was theatrically released in Sweden on 14 September of the same year, as well as in Denmark on 31 January 2019.

Plot

Children from all over the world write letters to Astrid Lindgren (Maria Fahl Vikander), which makes her dream back to her youth in

Småland Småland () is a historical Provinces of Sweden, province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name ''Småland'' literally means "small la ...

. When she (

) worked at ''Vimmerby tidning'', she falls in love with the chief editor, Reinhold Blomberg (Henrik Rafaelsen), who is 30 years her senior. She becomes pregnant with a son, Lars. As an unwed mother, she chooses to give birth to her son in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, where she did not have to disclose the father's name. Her son spent his first years in a Danish foster family. At the

Royal Automobile Club The Royal Automobile Club is a British private Club (organization)#Country or sports club, social and athletic club. It has two clubhouses: one in London at 89 Pall Mall, London, Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, ne ...

, Astrid met Sture Lindgren (

), who later came to be her husband.

Cast

as Astrid Ericsson ** Maria Fahl Vikander as Older Astrid *

as Hanna Ericsson, Astrid's mother *

as Samuel August Ericsson, Astrid's father * Henrik Rafaelsen as Reinhold Blomberg, editor-in-chief of Vimmerby magazine, and father of her son Lars *

as Lars' Danish foster mother *

as Sture Lindgren, Astrid's later husband * Li Brådhe as Landlord * Mira Mitchell as Berta * Sofia Karemyr as Madicken

Production

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

took place at Marquardt Palace in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

as well as in Västra Götaland in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Release

Following its premiere at the

, ''Becoming Astrid'' was screened at the

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

, where its North American distribution rights were purchased by

Music Box Films Music Box Films is a distributor of foreign and independent film in theatrical, DVD/Blu-ray, and video-on-demand markets in the United States. Based in Chicago, Music Box Films is independently owned and operated by the Southport Music Box Corpo ...

. The film received a

limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

on 23 November 2018.

Critical response

The film received critical acclaim. On

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, it holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads: "''Becoming Astrid'' pays tribute to a beloved character's creator with a biopic that proves the story behind the scenes is just as timelessly engaging." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, it has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades

Response from loved ones

Karin Nyman, Astrid and Sture's daughter, has criticized the film about her mother, stating that Astrid would have felt enormous reluctance for such a film, and that the period in her life, the relationship with Reinhold Blomberg, the son's birth, and foster home stay, was something private, which she did not want to focus on. Nyman drew comparisons to other biopics, about

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

('' Darkest Hour'') or

Björn Borg Björn Rune Borg (; born 6 June 1956) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 109 weeks. Borg won 66 singles titles during his caree ...

(''

Borg vs McEnroe ''Borg vs McEnroe'' (, ) is a 2017 biographical film, biographical sports film, sports drama film, focusing on the famous professional Borg–McEnroe rivalry, rivalry between tennis players, Björn Borg and John McEnroe at the 1980 Wimbledon Cha ...

''), where one focused on what they accomplished in life, rather than a few years of the person's most intimate private life.

References

External links

* * * * {{Metacritic film Astrid Lindgren 2018 biographical drama films 2010s Swedish-language films 2010s Danish-language films Swedish biographical drama films Danish biographical drama films Biographical films about writers Cultural depictions of Swedish people Cultural depictions of writers Films directed by Pernille Fischer Christensen Films set in Sweden Films set in Denmark Films shot in Germany Films shot in Sweden 2018 drama films 2018 films 2018 multilingual films Swedish multilingual films Danish multilingual films 2010s Swedish films