In Swedish coming-of-age drama Paradise is Burning we follow three girls living by themselves due to their mother being absent. Laura (Bianca Delbravo), the eldest sister, receives a phone call from Social Services regarding the welfare of the household. She must now scramble to find someone to pretend be their mother before the following week. At the same time, her younger sisters, Mira (Dilvin Asaad) and Steffi (Safira Mossberg), are going through important stages in life.
Mira, a tween, has her first menstrual cycle and is guided through this life experience by the next-door neighbor, Zara (Marta Oldenburg). Zara’s middle-aged son, Sascha (Mitja Saren), invites her to karaoke night. Over the course of the film, Sascha and Mira develop a bond as she coaches him for a karaoke competition. Steffi, a mischievous seven-year-old, is learning independence. She keeps taking in stray dogs, befriends a girl her own age, and learns to be tough through foul language. All this is happening as she is about to lose a tooth.
“…three girls living by themselves due to their mother being absent…”
While her sisters are gradually maturing, Laura is in desperate need of finding a replacement mother. Zara refuses to help her. She befriends Hannah (Ida Engvoll), a housewife who is fascinated by Laura’s con artist talents. Laura and Hannah become close friends as they live life to the fullest by swindling their way into people’s apartments. She even asks Hannah to impersonate her mother. As the three girls are going through their own changes, Laura keeps the Social Services meeting a secret from her siblings. Director Mika Gustafson captures the struggles of growing up in a parentless environment through a naturalistic aesthetic.
The best part of the film is the sisterhood between Laura and her siblings. Seeing them argue, be silly, and care for each other is relatable. Bianca Delbravo, Dilvin Asaad, and Safira Mossberg capture the various stages of adolescence in convincing performances. I hope these actresses go on to successful careers.
Gustafson gets great performances from her leads, yet the main storyline is not given a succinct resolution. This makes the stakes with the Social Services seem anticlimactic and the film is weakened by slow editing. That said, for those who appreciate slice-of-life stories, Paradise Is Burning is highly recommended.
"…three girls must scramble to find someone to pretend be their mother..."
