The Gullspång Miracle (2023)

2023 TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW!

When two sisters, Kari Klo and May-Elin Storsletten, buy an apartment they find out that the woman they bought it from looks just like their sister who died thirty years prior. As the three women, confused by this anomaly, dive deep into their family histories, they find that they have far more in common than they initially expected. The Gullspång Miracle shows these women and their families looking for more connections, trying to find ways to make sense of their situation. This is a real life mystery that is beyond wild, so much so that it’s hard to believe.

The Gullspång Miracle is a compelling story (at first), and yet the film is quite boring. It took me a while to appreciate the film, its content, or any of the individuals on screen. Then, as the tone of the film shifts, mystery takes a front seat, and The Gullspång Miracle promises to become more entertaining–it changes so much that a new type of frustration rears its head.

In the opening moments of the film Writer-Director Maria Fredriksson makes a comment about the sisters acting too much (something to that effect at least). I’m not sure if this is just coincidence or if this is foreshadowing the admittedly odd future of the film. As The Gullspång Miracle continues and nears its conclusion, there are moments that feel fabricated, forcibly altered in order to appeal to viewers and make the narrative more entertaining. I had struggled with the film in a number of ways up to this point, but as the individuals on screen began arguing about who is telling the truth and who is a liar, I began to consider the possibility that the entire film was a lie. Is The Gullspång Miracle completely made up for entertainment purposes? Are Fredriksson and her crew lying to viewers about what is real and what is made up? And if so, can we trust anything that this film tells us? I don’t want to accuse anyone of anything–that would just be unfair; but the reality is that there are clues nestled within The Gullspång Miracle that force viewers to think this way, that force viewers to believe that at least some of the story isn’t completely honest.

Everything that happens toward the end of The Gullspång Miracle seems far too coincidental, so far from reality, that it’s impossible to believe that anything these individuals are saying is true. Maybe that’s the point of The Gullspång Miracle, maybe the film really isn’t based on reality and it’s meant to be interestingly manipulative–but the way in which the film is framed doesn’t make me think that this could be a possibility. By the conclusion of the film it just feels like viewers are being lied to, that we are watching a lie–and that’s a massive turn off.

I’m not sure that The Gullspång Miracle ever developed in a way that allowed me to appreciate it. At the start I struggled to appreciate the film at all, as the narrative was boring, barely developing any emotion along the way. However, as it begins to shift into something else it goes too far, creating something that just feels fabricated and dishonest. Everything throughout the course of The Gullspång Miracle seems far too coincidental, and as the film inched toward a conclusion, it fell further and further from grace and I struggled to appreciate it more and more.

Written & Directed by Maria Fredriksson.

Starring Kari Klo, May-Elin Storsletten, Olaug Bakkevold Østby, Trine Prestsveen Gaustad, Roger Johnsen, etc.

⭐⭐⭐⭐/10