Beartown (TV series)

Beartown (Swedish: Björnstad) is a five-episode 2020 drama series directed by Peter Grönlund. Based on Fredrik Backman's 2016 novel of the same name, the series centres on the fallout of a violent incident between two teenagers in a rural, declining town in Northern Sweden, where hockey is not just a sport but a way of life. The series features an ensemble cast, with Ulf Stenberg, Miriam Ingrid, and Oliver Dufåker in the lead roles.

Filmlance International, best known for co-producing The Bridge (2011–2018), secured the rights to Backman's novel in 2017. Two years later, HBO Europe announced that they had given it the green light, making it the second Swedish series by HBO Europe. Bonnie Skoog Feeney and Mattias Arehn produced the series through Filmlance. The story was adapted and written by screenwriters Anders Weidemann, Antonia Pyk, and Linn Gottfridsson. Due to the subject matter, hockey experience was a major consideration during casting, with casting director Maggie Widstrand contacting schools and hockey clubs throughout Northern Sweden. Filming for Beartown primarily took place in Gällivare, Norrbotten County and began on 4 February 2019. It wrapped in May after 72 days. Post-production was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first two episodes of Beartown premiered on 18 October 2020 on HBO Nordic, with the last three being released weekly until 8 November. The series also had a North American release via Max on 22 February 2021. Beartown received generally positive reviews from both Swedish and international critics. Praise was given to the adaptation of Backman's novel, Grönlund's direction, and the performances of the cast. Stenberg and Ingrid were nominated for Best Lead Actor and Actress, respectively, at Kristallen 2021. The series' original score was also recognized; Johan Testad earned a nomination for the HARPA Nordic Film Composer Award.

In February 2017, Filmlance International secured the rights to Fredrik Backman's 2016 novel Beartown.^[1] Filmlance was best known for its co-production of The Bridge (2011–2018), a popular Danish-Swedish crime drama which spurred multiple international remakes.^[2] Beartown was not the first Backman novel to be adapted for screen: A Man Called Ove (2015) had been previously released to great box office success and Britt-Marie Was Here (2019) was in production at time of the series announcement.^[3]

About two years later, in January 2019, HBO Europe greenlit television adaptation of Beartown—co-produced by Bonnie Skoog Feeney and Mattias Arehn, directed by Peter Grönlund. and co-written by Anders Weidemann, Antonia Pyk, and Linn Gottfridsson.^[4] Ulf Stenberg and Aliette Opheim were announced as members of the cast.^[1] Beartown was HBO Europe's second Swedish series, after Lukas Moodysson's Gösta in 2019, and third Scandinavian series, after Gösta and the Norwegian Beforeigners (2019–2021).^[5]

As he did in his previous films Drifters (2015) and Goliath (2018), director Peter Grönlund prioritised assembling a cast that contained established actors alongside newcomers who "could relate to the show's environment and its culture."^[6] In Autumn 2017, the production team visited hockey clubs in Northern Sweden.^[7] The casting director for Beartown, Maggie Widstrand spoke about the difficulty of finding young prospective actors with hockey experience from the region. She traveled around Norrland and emailed numerous schools to find suitable candidates.^[8] Hockey experience was a major consideration, as the series would otherwise require stunt doubles and extensive training for actors.^[9] Accordingly, those actors who played on the fictional junior hockey team were recruited from Norrbotten and spoke with the characteristic local dialect. Oliver Dufåker had no acting experience before being cast as Kevin Erdahl, but played junior hockey in Luleå, Boden, and Timrå.^[10] Ulf Stenberg, who played a lead role of hockey coach Peter Andersson, was born in Boden and raised in Umeå. Stenberg noted that the locker room talk shown in the series was similar to what he observed growing up, and that he recognized himself in the character he played.^[11] Other actors in the series with roots in Northern Sweden include Otto Fahlgren, Charlotta Jonsson, Einar Bredefeldt, Najdat Rustom, Alfons Nordberg, and Sanna Niemi.^[12] Extras were also sought from the Northern Sweden.^[13]

Filming began on 4 February 2019 and finished in May.^[14] It was primarily filmed in Gällivare.^[15] Other sites included Övertorneå, Haparanda, Kalix, Malmberget, and Kiruna.^[11] Many scenes were filmed at the Gällivare ice rink, while others were set outside or at a local pub.^[16] Over 72 days of filming, the production experienced equipment malfunctions due to harsh conditions, including snow depths up to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) and temperatures as low as −35 °C (−31 °F).^[6] Petrus Sjövik served as the cinematographer and Aimee McDaniel as the sports choreographer.^[17]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, HBO Nordic ceased all filming operations in March 2020. Beartown had already wrapped filming and was edited so it was able to proceed to its planned release date, but some post-production such as automated dialogue replacement had to be done remotely.^[18] The series' original score was composed by Johan Testad.^[19] The soundtrack featured the song "Weight of The World" written and performed by Cornelia Jakobs.^[20]

In June 2020, HBO announced via press release that the series would be released in the autumn simultaneously on HBO Nordic and HBO Europe.^[21] The announcement was accompanied by release of first still photographs and a teaser.^[22] The first two episodes of Beartown premiered on 18 October 2020, with the remaining three being released weekly afterwards.^[23] By 30 November, it was the tenth most-watched series on HBO Nordic.^[24] The series was made available to North American audiences the following year via Max, on 22 February 2021.^[25]

In 2023, it was reported that the series was no longer accessible for streaming on Max. Beartown and 20 other HBO Europe originals were moved to the Skyshowtime streaming platform.^[26]

The series earned an average rating of 3.8/5 on the Swedish review aggregator site Kritiker.^[27] One positive review came from Karolina Fjellborg in Aftonbladet. She dubbed Beartown the best Swedish series of the year thus far, calling it a "near-perfect depiction of peer pressure, macho culture and the double-edged rural mentality that can be both cohesive and destructive."^[28] Jacob Lundström gave the show 4/5 stars in Dagens Nyheter. He praised its writing, performances, and effective social commentary. While citing the show as a rare example of a "small-town portrait from Norrbotten...that on the whole [feels] dialectally correct", he noted that Peter's wife Mira was relegated to a "helpless supporting figure, rather than a person in her own right." He nonetheless commended actress Aliette Opheim's performance in the role.^[29] Melanie Åström agreed in Norrländska Socialdemokraten; she expressed that the series fairly depicted Northern Sweden and that Opheim's character should have received more development.^[30] In Göteborgs-Posten, Jan Andersson commended Grönlund's direction and the overall adaptation of Backman's original novel. He also cited Stenberg's performance as a standout, but said he was unimpressed by the younger actors.^[31] A more critical Swedish review came from Michael Tapper in Sydsvenskan who criticised Grönlund's direction, saying that it lacked artistic nerve.^[32]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 93% of 14 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "Acutely observed and coiled with dread, Beartown is an intelligent sports drama that explores how the culture of an insular community can be complicit in a crime."^[33] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gave Beartown a score of 82 out of 100 based on 7 critics, indicating "universal acclaim."^[34]

In The Boston Globe, Matthew Gilbert praised the series for its compelling story, cast, and writing.^[35] Dorothy Rabinowitz of The Wall Street Journal and Nick Schager of The Daily Beast also gave it a positive review, with Schager commending the series' portrayal of toxic masculinity, how the town's hockey program "teaches boys that they're all important, that winning is everything, and that being big, tough, profane, and mean is the way to accomplish one's goals."^[36] He also called attention to complimentary subplots involving racism and a closeted hockey player.^[37] In contrast, Kaveh Jalinous of Under the Radar felt those non-primary storylines were not given sufficient depth, and she also criticised the series' use of "surface-level montages" to move the story along.^[38]

Judy Berman of TIME called Beartown a "patient portrait of a stiflingly small place with a long memory", as well as an "icy Scandinavian take on Friday Night Lights". She highlighted how the series avoided the standard crime drama formula, citing it as one of the best new shows of February 2021.^[39] Another positive review came from Shane Ryan in Paste, who applauded Grönlund's directing, as well as the performances of Miriam Ingrid and Oliver Dufåker. He also praised the show for its realistic hockey scenes, noting that it was "clear that they put a lot of time and effort into making [the scenes] look like real junior hockey."^[40]

Ingrid and Stenberg received nominations for Best Actor and Actress, respectively, at Kristallen 2021.^[41] For his original score, composer Johan Testad was nominated for a 2022 HARPA Nordic Film Composer Award.^[19]

• Beartown at IMDb
• Beartown at Rotten Tomatoes