The Oslo Stories Trilogy (Sex, Dreams, Love) is an ambitious set of films from novelist-turned-filmmaker Dag Johan Haugerud, contemplating romance, intimacy, and desire in contemporary Norway.

In Love, (Venice, 2024), Haugerud explores the sexual freedom experienced by Tor, a gay nurse, and the more conventional constraints Marianne, his straight colleague, encounters. Neither wants to be bound by conforming to societal norms, but where one can seemingly live a carefree existence, for women, the realities are more complex.

Witty, gentle, and eye-opening, Haugerud charts a full investigation on what contemporary love means in this series of films about romantic, sexual, philosophical, and creative awakenings.

The Garden Cinema View:

The second to be filmed (but third chronologically - not that it matters) in Dag Johan Haugerud’s trilogy of relationships is, fittingly given the title, the most tender. A loose structure revolves around ferry journeys across the Oslofjord (apparently a hotbed of cruising and pickup activity), centennial celebration preparations at city hall, and the love lives of medical professions working in a cancer clinic. Like the other entries in the trilogy, this is a film that interweaves beautifully captured montages of the city with extended conversations. These dialogues are often impressively intelligent, mature, and honest. Haugerud’s Oslo is a pleasure to inhabit, and his characters are fascinating to eavesdrop on.

Cast:
Andrea Bræin Hovig, Tayo Cittadella Jacobsen, Thomas Gullestad, Lars Jacob Holm