Mia (Sofia Helin) is driving home for her father’s 70th birthday, fearing the sense of isolation in the village where she grew up, and the aggressive bitterness of her sister (Kajsa Ernst) who never left.

Maria Blom’s play saw the light of day in 2001 in Dalarna, the Swedish county where she was raised. Digging deeper, beyond rural stereotypes, Blom finds compelling conflicts between women who have chosen different paths but failed to find happiness.

She wants to help them do that, but it’s a tough mission; the longer the film goes on the darker it gets, but a strong cast and authentic locations help. 

2004-Sweden-Denmark. 98 min. Color. Directing, screenplay, play: Maria Blom. Cast: Sofia Helin (Mia), Kajsa Ernst (Eivor), Ann Petrén (Gunilla), Barbro Enberg, Joakim Lindblad, Willie Andréason, Cecilia Forss. 

Trivia: Original title: Masjävlar.

Guldbagge Awards: Best Film, Screenplay, Supporting Actress (Ernst).

Last word: “With [producer Lars Jönsson] on board, [cinematographer] Peter Mokrosinski and the rest of the crew, I wasn’t nervous and always felt in secure hands. I thought they would tell me when I was doing something that wasn’t right. Lars for instance looked at the takes every day and only told me twice that perhaps I should shoot again. The collaboration with [Mokrosinski] was very exciting for me and he himself said that working on Dalecarlians had been one of the most enjoyable things he had ever done.” (Blom, Cineuropa)