Joakim Linder-Aronson

Five young friends are hanging out in the woods and discussing their different views on love. There’s Mary who is happily in love with Toby, Toby who is sort of indifferent about Mary, Joby who has a secret crush on Toby, Caty who is single and satisfied and Freddy, the gang’s own enthusiastic nerd. Freddy tells his friends about an ancient greek myth which suggests that humanity used to consist of people who were literally stuck together with their true loves. He then suggests that they should all pray to the old god Zeus so that Mary and Toby are reunited in their true form. Caty finds this suggestion repulsive but to her horror the others consider it to be a charming idea. The ritual works… but maybe not in the way they intended.

The film takes place in the Swedish capitol Stockholm during the year 1809. War has ravaged Europe continuously for the last seventeen years. The common citizens of Stockholm live in misery as poverty, violence and death dominate the shadowy alleys. A coup feels inevitable and the coming dissolvement of the nation is what's on everyone's lips. In a beautiful salon six nobles are hiding away from it all by partying and socializing. One night the hostess Charlotte reveals to her five guests that she will be forced to sign over her property to one of them, for fear of otherwise losing it to the rebelling antigustavians. A game begins in the candlelit salon. A game of covert intentions, manipulation and mind games as five nobles attempt to find out who of them is best suited to take over the beautfiul estate. Time passes as they're all constantly driven towards their own personal abysses. All meanwhile the sounds of gunshots and yelling echo from beyond the gilded window sills.