A Man Called Ove

Ove is a 59-year-old man who has withdrawn from most of the world around him. He lives in a small terraced house and keeps a close, unsentimental watch over his neighbourhood, checking that cars are parked correctly and that rubbish is sorted as it should be. Since the death of his wife Sonja he sees little point in going on, and he makes quiet preparations to end his life. Those plans keep being interrupted, first by a stray cat that refuses to leave, then by Parvaneh, her husband and their children, who move in across the street and immediately damage his mailbox while reversing their car.

The film is a Swedish-Norwegian production directed by Hannes Holm, who also wrote the screenplay. It is his first feature in the chronological list of his directing credits, ahead of Let It Rain. Rolf Lassgård plays Ove, with Bahar Pars as Parvaneh; Filip Berg and Ida Engvoll appear as the younger Ove and Sonja, and Tobias Almborg and Klas Wiljergård are among the credited cast of 33.

Released at the end of 2015, the film found a wide audience internationally, taking around 31 million US dollars at the box office. On IMDb it holds 7.7/10 from 74,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.6/10 from 1,365 votes. The critics' rating stands at 7.2/10 from 119 reviews, close to but slightly below the audience scores.