Four Shades of Brown

Set in contemporary Sweden, the stories reflect modern life and current social dynamics. The characters navigate today’s concerns—from rehabilitation and design culture to family rituals and therapy-like group interactions. The backdrop of current urban and rural spaces grounds the film’s interwoven narratives in a recognizable time frame.

The film unfolds across multiple Swedish locales: a Scania community, a designer beachside hotel by the coast, a gathering in Dalarna for a funeral, and scenes in Gothenburg around a cooking-class setting. These diverse settings anchor four interwoven stories that explore everyday life across both rural and urban Sweden.

💬 Communication

The film foregrounds how people connect and misconnect in moments of vulnerability. Christer’s struggle to regain speech after his injury, and the communal healing that follows, frame dialogue as a bridge between pain and belonging. Across the other stories, conversations marked by irony, secrets, and social performance reveal how language shapes identity and empathy.

🎨 Creativity

Richard Brunn’s design-minded hotel story pits aesthetic ambition against inner turmoil, showing how taste and prestige can become sources of stress. A tasteless relic triggers a mental breakdown, suggesting that art and status can mask deeper fragility. The hotel becomes a stage where creativity clashes with personal composition and emotion.

⚰️ Legacy

At Sören Lindberg’s funeral, wealth, memory, and family dynamics collide in a peculiar rite of passage. A complex will unfolds, drawing in his sons, mistresses, and associates to confront what inheritance truly means. The revelation that wealth funded a hologram adds a paradox to how memory and money endure after death. The theme probes how money, ritual, and representation shape personal legacies.

🫂 Therapy

The Gothenburg cooking-class setting becomes a space for lost souls to confront their flaws. Characters like Ernst and Jenny reveal insecurities, lie about progress, and seek authentic connections through collective activities. The group dynamics transform private struggles into shared examination, illustrating how communal activities can catalyze self-discovery and healing.