TOMMY

As bleak as a Scandinavian winter and as hot as a log fire in a Swedish cottage – emotional fire melts calculated ice in this Nordic Noir in which everything revolves around TOMMY. Mysterious criminal Tommy, a man who may or may not return to his city, a man who may or may not be dead…

When the beautiful Estelle returns from Sri Lanka to her native Stockholm shortly before Christmas, she does so with a mission on her mind: to get the share of a heist her husband Tommy has been involved in. Backtrack one year earlier: together with their young daughter the couple left Stockholm on the run after Tommy was involved in one of the most audacious robberies the country has ever seen. Now Estelle is back to make contact with Tommy’s former accomplices and to claim the share of money which rightfully is his. Tricking and double-crossing the gang into believing that if she is not given the share upfront then all hell will break lose upon Tommy’s return, Stockholm’s underworld begins to get nervous… very nervous!

Thing is, Tommy is dead. And that’s not a giveaway as we, the viewer, witness his corpse being picked up at a Sri Lankan beach at the beginning of the film. But Tommy’s former cronies don’t know that, and that’s just how Estelle prefers to play the game… by making them belief that truly terrible things will happen upon his return if she isn’t handed over the money fairly quick. Of course, Estelle plans on returning to sunny Sri Lanka together with her daughter and her younger sister Blanca. Unfortunately, before Estelle can say ‘tack’ and take off, trouble spreads as fast as the news of Tommy’s apparent return. The news even makes headlines!

As if Estelle hasn’t gotten herself into enough of a pickle already, the situation is worsened when she learns that her ‘little sister’ is romantically involved with Bobby, one of the gang members and now a married restaurant owner. He ought to know where the share of the money lies hidden, however, he claims otherwise. Despite Estelle’s best efforts to convince Blanca that Bobby is bad news, she doesn’t want to know about it. Estelle then employs the ‘services’ of Steve, another shady underworld character and apparent loyal friend of our anti-heroine, to look after ‘business’. Rest assured the cold and calculating Estelle double-crosses him too, only this time she may have gone one step too far when Steve looks through her and things quickly get nasty and nastier still! Will Estelle still walk away the Queen, or will she lose her head?

Moa Gammel as ‘Estelle’ delivers a wonderfully nuanced performance as a woman who outwardly appears to be distanced and calculating to the extent that temporarily she even neglects the safety of her little daughter. Inwardly though she is concerned about the well-being of her sister – not to mention annoyed about the immature whims of her spoilt mother. Swedish pop sensation Lykke Li as ‘Blanca’ equally delivers as a character confused by her love for Bobby and whose loyalty to her family is put to the test. The ever-reliable Ola Rapace as ‘Bobby’ never quite shows where his real emotions and loyalties lie, and Johan Rabaeus’ ‘Steve’ is a revelation as a man whose almost fatherly concern for Estelle switches in an instant and he turns psychopath.

Director Tarik Saleh manages to bring out the emotional scale required of his actors and cleverly sets the emotions against either sunny or wintery backdrops.