We Are the Best! (2014)
87%RT Audience Score: 77%
Awards & Nominations: 13 wins & 21 nominations
Sweet, empathetic, and shot through with a palpable joy, We Are the Best! offers a tender tribute to the bittersweet tumult of adolescence
We Are the Best! is the ultimate feel-good movie that will have you dancing in your seat and cheering for the underdogs. The trio of teenage girls are a force to be reckoned with as they navigate the ups and downs of adolescence while forming their own punk band. The film is a refreshing departure from the typical Hollywood portrayal of teenage girls and instead offers a relatable and hilarious look at the awkwardness and excitement of growing up. Moodysson’s direction and the performances of the young actresses make this a must-see for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider.
Production Company(ies)
Animal Kingdom, Traction Media,
Distributor
Magnolia Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Södermalm, Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2014
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 42m
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Language(s):Swedish
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Country of origin:Denmark, Sweden
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): May 30, 2014 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 23, 2014
Genre(s)
Keyword(s)
We Are the Best!, drama, Swedish, Lukas Moodysson, Jessica Ask, Marie Gade Denessen, Lars Jönsson, Christian Wikander, Mira Barkhammar, Mira Grosin, Liv LeMoyne, Johan Liljemark, Mattias Wiberg, Jonathan Salomonsson, reviewed by Chiara Grassia, Kate Muir, Evan Williams, Richard Brody, David Stratton, Paul Byrnes, Michael J Casey, Scott Nye, Chris McCoy, Alexa Dalby, coming-of-age, punk rock, adolescence, friendship, family, rebellion, 1980s Stockholm, Magnolia Pictures, $180.2K box office gross, MPAA rating not specified, sweet, empathetic, joyous, tender, bittersweet, universal, warm, funny, soulful, honest, good-natured, female friendship, Bechdel Test
Worldwide gross: $1,604,273
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $2,004,936
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,419
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 218,641
US/Canada gross: $180,590
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $225,692
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,525
US/Canada opening weekend: $17,664
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $22,076
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,478
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Mira Grosin – Klara
Liv LeMoyne – Hedvig
Johan Liljemark – Kenneth
Mattias Wiberg – Roger
Jonathan Salomonsson – Elis
Director – Lukas Moodysson
Producers – Jessica Ask, Marie Gade Denessen, Lars Jönsson, Christian Wikander
Writer – Lukas Moodysson
Director(s)
Lukas Moodysson
Writer(s)
Lukas Moodysson
Producer(s)
Jessica Ask, Marie Gade Denessen, Lars Jönsson, Christian Wikander
Film Festivals
Venice, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
13 wins & 21 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (138) | Top Critics (54) | Fresh (133) | Rotten (5)
An infectiously joyous coming-of-age story.
January 22, 2021
Chiara Grassia
Bitch Media
TOP CRITIC
The insightful and cracklingly funny story is an antidote to Hannah Montana and the shallow Hollywood teenagers on the Disney Channel, obsessed by their French manicures.
December 31, 2017
Kate Muir
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
For all their moodiness and irascibility, the girls come across as warm and believable, and there are funny moments when they take to the streets to raise money for a new guitar.
January 4, 2015 | Rating: 3/5
Evan Williams
The Australian
TOP CRITIC
A pallid and terminally cutesy movie that succeeds by stoking blandly happy feelings.
January 4, 2015
Richard Brody
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
The young actresses are just flawless and I think Lukas Moodysson really tells this story well.
September 26, 2014 | Rating: 3.5/5
David Stratton
At the Movies (Australia)
TOP CRITIC
The performances of all three young actors are superb, soulful, honest and full of joy. Their dialogue is often ridiculously funny and there’s no sense of manufactured drama.
September 22, 2014 | Rating: 4/5
Paul Byrnes
Sydney Morning Herald
TOP CRITIC
Writer/director Lukas Moodysson adapts his wife’s graphic novel into a heartfelt look at three teenagers who have not yet come of age but are on their way.
November 8, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/5
Michael J. Casey
Michael J. Cinema
The crowd with which I saw it last November was positively vibrating the whole time. The title does not lie.
March 4, 2021
Scott Nye
Battleship Pretension
It’s the details of the journey that matter in this good-natured film. Bobo, Klara, and Hedwig’s story of Sweden’s finest teenage girl punk band will feel universal to everyone who has ever set out to prove that punk won’t die on their watch.
January 8, 2020
Chris McCoy
Memphis Flyer
We Are the Best (Vi är bast) sports a cocksure swagger in its title alone, and rightfully so. It is a boisterous rejoinder to the usual simplistic, tame depiction of adolescent girls.
August 6, 2019 | Rating: A
Ryan Syrek
The Reader (Omaha, NE)
Moodysson’s film is hard to dislike, and while it puts more emphasis on the light in light-hearted, We Are The Best! is time well spent.
June 19, 2019 | Rating: 7.4/10
C.J. Prince
Way Too Indie
We Are the Best is a warm-hearted crowd and critics pleaser about coming of age, and female friendship that passes the Bechdel Test.
June 6, 2019 | Rating: 3/5
Alexa Dalby
Dog and Wolf…
Plot
In early-80s’ Stockholm, Bobo, an ordinary thirteen-year-old schoolgirl who lives with her divorced mother, takes inspiration from bands like KSMB and Ebba Grön, refusing to accept what others say about Punk being dead. Sharing the same taste in music with her classmate, Klara, and with the help of the talented but introverted eighth-grader, Hedvig, the girls decide to put a band together, getting their hands on musical instruments for the very first time. But, surprisingly, what started as a joke, will soon become a reality
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
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