"Hjem til jul"
“Hjem til jul” debuted on Netflix last year, but I haven’t watched it since this weekend. A friend of mine recommended this series, so I decided to give it a chance. It was a first Norwegian series on the platform, so I had huge expectations. The series wasn’t the worst one I have seen this year, but definitely I have seen better ones. There is nothing new in that series and I have watched many very similar productions. The plot isn't complicated, but I really adorded the preparations for Christmas and amazing views. It's nice to see a white Christmas full of snow, because I'm not sure if the snow falls in Poland any time soon.
The series tells a story of Johanne, a 30 years old nurse. She hasn't got a boyfriend since she was dumped 3 years ago. Her family has a problem with that, they want to see her with husband and children, because the clock is ticking. Of course, her siblings and her friends met their matches, they have children and she feels excluded of some conversation, because she has no children. On December 1st during the family dinner, when she is sitting between her brother’s twins, she says that she has a boyfriend. Johanne is tired of receiving advice from her family and memories of her ex. The whole family loves him and they can’t understand how she could let him go. Johanne lied about her boyfriend and now has 24 days to find someone and bring him to the family dinner on Christmas Eve. She tries to find him through speed dating o internet dating. Sadly, none of the men is right for her. Each one is irritating and some kind of weird. Finally, she dates Jonas, who has almost 19 years old, she has feeling for him, but he dumps her on his birthday party. In the meantime, she discovers that her parent's "perfect" marriage isn't perfect. It turns out that they are trying to save their relationship through seeing other people and they could even get divorce. In Christmas Eve she works double shift, because she has no boyfriend and children. Luckily, her supervisor replaces her to avoid the Christmas dinner with her mother-in-law. Johanne joins her family at the dinner and her mother constantly asks if someone will come. She says that someone will come. It turns out that she had invited her best friend and roommate with her boyfriend (which she met an hour ago) and one of her patients: an old lady who had three or four husbands, but now she is alone. Suddenly, her best friend also comes to the dinner, because she told her husband about her betrayal. Her family is surprised, but the dinner passes very well. At the end of the episode the doorbell rings and Johanne goes open the door. She smiles and invites the guest, but we can’t see who he or she is.
This series is very similar to many other series I have seen, but it has potencial. I really liked the idea of showing how the pressure of a family can force us to do something. Johanne is trying to make her parents proud, but she won’t succeed until she finds a boyfriend. It shows, how the society sees an unmarried woman: she won’t be happy if she not finds a man of her dreams. No, I disagree, a woman or man can be happy without a partner. Being a spinster isn’t something we should be ashamed of. I didn’t like how the creators show Johanne’s suitors: they were definitely exaggerated. The creators focused more on their disadvantages and not advantages. I hope it will change in season 2. I think that this series starts and ends very nicely, we can identify with Johanne, but the rest of episodes aren’t so great. I adore the last one: the Christmas dinner is so wonderful, full of joy and tears. It shows the meaning of Christmas- being together with your loved ones. I wish that Christmas Eve could come earlier, because now I can’t wait to spend this magical evening with my family.
In a few days there's going to be a season 2 and I will watch it, but with mixed feelings. From what I have seen, the 2 season happens on next Christmas, so I’m curious how the creators resolve this.
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