Ängelby (2015) User Reviews

Oddly Captivating

[nightc1 · 6/10 · 21 September 2016]

After completing the 12 episode series, I found the show completely captivating to the point that I looked forward to each episode. The locations are all quite rich with detail and age which lends an air of reality to the show and characters that most shows just don't have. You won't find any sterile set locations here. The people are all quite exquisitely eccentric but in a way that makes sense by the end of the run. Then there is the main story. Everyone has their own unpredictable motivations. To me, unpredictability in story telling makes for a much more enjoyable experience and this is one of the few shows I couldn't guess the end, and I loved it for that. Still, unpredictability can come from bad places sometimes, but this isn't one of those. No, rather this is the type of show where it may be hard to guess... but it all makes some level of sense due to clues weaved into the show.

So my recommendation is to give this a chance. Just don't go into it expecting some kind of horror story or something with monsters or other unrealistic things. It's firmly a drama rooted in reality with the threat of mysticism. I say "threat" because for the majority of the show you are left to decide what if anything to believe. You can be like me and stay completely grounded in reality and believe there is an explanation for everything... or buy into it all. Either way, I think the show wraps itself up quite nicely in an oddly satisfying manner.

As an added bonus for people from other countries, there is interesting architecture, beautiful nature, and other visual treats to enjoy. When watching foreign shows myself, I tend to really get a kick out of seeing different ways of life. Like the oddity of doors that open outward. On American shows typically if a door opens outward its because of bad set design... here, it's the reality of the environment. Enjoy!

Generally OK, but not among the finest Scandinavian thrillers

[BeneCumb · 7/10 · 3 February 2017]

Although I am not too keen on series-films dealing with supernatural phenomena, I like Scandinavian Noir, plus I got to know that the supernatural does not dominate here. So I decided to let it go... Well, the start was rather slow and arid and I recognised a few familiar actors only, but then it was some "kick" and I became curious what had and would really happen. To me, the episodes in the middle were the most interesting, with some twists and teasing endings in each episode, but the final ones became too slow, and the very ending was not gratifying either. There were also scenes where the references to the past and actual events remained vague, i.e. a kind of over- sophistication took place.

As for the characters and performances, the leading ones did not impress me much (I was surprised to read later that Mia Skäringer is so famous in Sweden), but Michaela Thorsén as Viveka Wallström made me often giggle.

Thus, Ängelby is not a conceptual creation, but if you like Swedish lifestyle and way of thinking, and some mysticism in a "plain" crime, then you spend good 9 hours of your life in front of TV. Most similar U.S. series are worse anyway...

Nicely Shot

[eskimo20 · 7/10 · 9 June 2019]

Unusual topic, interesting location, imperfect characters, doesn't follow the usual, predictable Hollywood playbook. Worth a look.

Very much like a Swedish "Haven"

[justinmo-1 · 6/10 · 25 January 2019]

Like Haven it's a new girl in a country town apparently by chance but occultly predestined to be there and supernatural forces are thought to be at work. There's less of the concretely reified majic than Haven shows and less episodic storylines but it would seem to be derivative, not helped by the fact that Mia Skaringer looks like an older Emily Rose. But it's watchable and entertaining if you can binge-watch it. It's probably more for "Nordic Noir" fans than those of standard mystery series.

Life is short, stay clear of Ängelby. You don't need to thank me for that advice.

[Stefanowich · 1/10 · 22 November 2015]

"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness."

― Oscar Wilde

In the case of Swedish TV-series Ängelby I would say it's more of an insult than flattery.

The setup, right down to the main theme, is a total rip off from Twin Peaks. Same goes for the mystery man who doesn't speak. He is a copy of he dwarf who speaks backwards in Twin Peaks. But in Ängelby he can speak to flying elks (!).

In the woods there is a mystery stone from space which sounds a lot like Stephen King's The Tommyknockers. Then we have the mystery kid that rides his bike in the woods. Why does he remind me of the mystery guy in Lost?

There are more examples of "inspiration", or theft, from Stephen King, Twin Peaks, Lost and more.

Fact is I have no problem with inspiration, but I do hate plagiarism, especially when it's uncredited.

Besides the lame story Ängelby has some of the worst acting I've seen in a long time. In Sweden the government pays writers, directors, actors etc money for their "cultural work" which makes is a job you choose because you like it, not because you're good at it. The need to reform the Swedish system has never been clearer than with Ängelby.

Life is short, stay clear of Ängelby. You don't need to thank me for that advice.

Or you could give it a go, like I did...

[petty-mike · 8/10 · 18 January 2017]

I was pretty gripped by this, having just binge-watched the last two episodes. There were times when I didn't really know what was going on, and times when I wanted to say, No, don't go into the woods AGAIN, in the dark, just don't! But I found the characters engaging and eccentric (I'm officially in love with Viveca) and there was enough of a cliff-hanger at the end of each episode to make me impatient for the next one. And ultimately, it doesn't matter whether you buy into other-worldly stuff or not - it can be complete tosh, like this probably was (see also: Stranger Things), but if you're enjoying it, why the hell not?

I fail to understand why our two Scandinavian friends are so vehement in their dislike - I got the echoes of Twin Peaks and Stephen King, but so what? It's all out there. And I thoroughly enjoyed it - and they're probably less enchanted by hearing Swedish spoken than I am.

Ängelby to be avoided.

[Finlandess · 2/10 · 21 December 2015]

What an absolute load of rubbish and a total waste of time watching this series: messy, unfathomable plot, unrealistic characters... The list goes on. Actors were pretty OK, but their roles were not. If this series was intended to be a fairytale, it failed. A drama it was clearly not. I don't know what it was, but not a good reason to spend 12 hours of one's life watching it. There seems to be a trend in Swedish TV-series presently - similar fantasy elements could be detected in another recent TV-show from Sweden, namely Jordskott. One can not but compare these two and wish, enough already! Fairy tales for adults don't work unless they are perfectly written or unique.

Looks better from a distance?

[david-24743 · 8/10 · 2 January 2017]

Looks better from a distance?

Of the three previous reviews – the two Scandinavian reviewers were not at all keen but the one from the USA found a lot of good in it.

Is it a national culture thing?

I am from the UK but have visited Sweden a few times.

The show could well be derivative drivel / hogwash / nonsense but there are few things in life that are truly new.

It is however beautifully filmed with interesting characters and lifestyles.

Am I intrigued because I want to immerse myself in what I imagine Swedish country life is like?

Incredibly poorly made

[volter-hagman · 1/10 · 30 January 2020]

Sure the CGI is surprisingly good but the rest of it is catastrophic. They tried really hard and it was all for basically nothing. Instead of actually making it a thrillering mystery they describe everything that is happening for you. Leaving pretty much zero mystery or thriller left. The ending is such an anti-climax. Like another review read, it feels like a couple of "edgy" teenagers wrote this. Also directed it. And cut the whole thing. Sorry..

Ghastly... avoid

[mosquitobite · 2/10 · 16 November 2018]

The lead character appears brain dead as she fumbles her way through absurdly phoney scenarios one after the other. My feeling was it was written by a couple of 15 year olds with zero understanding of anything at all in the real world and the impact of life transition and trauma. Get out of my face!!

Where do I start?

[micke-bystrom · 1/10 · 27 June 2019]

Everything is stupid with "Ängelby". The story is stupid. The lines are stupid. The acting is exasperatingly bad with the exceptions of "Göran Ragnerstam", who is great, and Amanda Ooms, who puts in a somewhat acceptable performance.

Mia Skäringer is pretty much going for a tone deaf interpretation of a stone in every scene. Maybe as some kind of a relation to another stone being a part in the fable? If not, the reality is that she's no real actor at all. I like her much better in comedies. She bores the audience and doesn't convince you in any way. Why did the director do this to her? Can she really be this bad? How is that even possible? Any woman you find on any bus would do a better job. Stick to comedies, Mia!

The plot is worse than an old fifties UFO film. With a rich Scandinavian heritage with true nature magic what Ängelby suggests is a falsification of what all that can stand for. That culturally appropriative story-line concerning Egypt is both far-fetched, tasteless and pretty racist. Disgusting!

Most of all, the series is a total waste of time and an insult to people with working brains. I watched every episode for some reason. It only gets worse. If I could give it a "0" I would. Watch it at your own peril.

So bad

[erikssonsens · 1/10 · 12 March 2020]

I don't understand the purpose of making such bad series . When making it you had to realize it's bad???