Review of Stockholm (2019) by Thomassmith — 14 Apr 2019

Stockholm is a stranger than fiction story that actually turns out to be based on an absurd true story of a bank robbery set in a Swedish bank, 1973. Emotions and absolute extremes from actor Ethan Hawke portraying robber Lars Nystrom lends a must see performance to audience members.

The outlaw persona from Hawke’s character drives the pacing and direction of the story, and we find the captured hostages slowly supporting this outlaw over their own Swedish government who seem to have given up on their safety.

This occurrence is actually where the condition of Stockholm syndrome stems from, and really creates a nice depth to the overall production of the true story aspect. Throughout the film we even see Lar’s character reveal sympathy that takes away from his macho badass mantra, and it shows why one of the bank tellers played by Noomi Rapace ends up falling for him.

This is a complete story that gives a fun, grungy, and sarcastic heist movie new life in the era of superhero movies.