The book is obviously entertaining, but it requires special skill to make a film of a book, which is painfully absent. The weak direction and poor/forced dialogue take away all ounces of drama and comedy. The fact that the police officers wear small knitted hats instead of real uniforms gives amateur vibes. A bad script, weak acting and too unrealistic characters drag the series down to school play level. Everything is set for a thrilling black drama comedy.

A suicide and a farewell letter haunt in the background. Strange circumstances place an odd group of people in the apartment at the same time. On paper, it sounds like a good idea: a hostage drama occurs during an apartment tour. I'm Swedish and therefore I may see this series in a completely different light. I recommend you pay close attention to the dialogue near the end between the elderly woman and the police officer when she says, 'When you get a chance to save someone, you take it.' The film and book have a surprisingly philosophical message that is very positive and encouraging. Despite the crime backstory, it is actually a very quite story about a group of random people brought together in a very unusual situation that end up bonding together in the most unusual way possible. This is not an action packed crime drama so you may be disappointed if that is what you were expecting. Backman is a master story teller and the film is pretty much how I imagined the characters when I read the book. I think this is one of the few cases where the film version has captured the book almost perfectly. The Netflix series develops the story characters very slowly and methodically in six 30-minute episodes. I'm a huge fan of Fredrik Backman and this Netflix series is an excellent adaption of his book 'Anxious People'.

Anxious people by backman