My Life as a Dog

Set in Sweden in the late 1950s, My Life as a Dog follows twelve-year-old Ingemar, whose mother is seriously ill and whose father is working abroad. With his older brother making life difficult at home, Ingemar is sent to stay with his uncle Gunnar in a small rural village. There he settles into a life very different from the one he knows, forming a close friendship with a girl his own age named Saga, while news from home casts a shadow over his time in the countryside.

Lasse Hallström directed and co-wrote the film with Reidar Jönsson and Per Berglund, and it was produced by Waldemar Bergendahl. It was Hallström's second feature as director, arriving between ABBA: The Movie in 1977 and What's Eating Gilbert Grape in 1993. Anton Glanzelius plays Ingemar, with Tomas von Brömssen as Uncle Gunnar, Anki Lidén as Ingemar's mother, Melinda Kinnaman as Saga and Kicki Rundgren as Gunnar's wife Ulla.

Released in December 1985, the film runs 102 minutes. Its worldwide box office came to about 8 million dollars. On IMDb it holds 7.6 out of 10 from over 22,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.2 out of 10 from far fewer votes, with the critics' rating of 7.9 out of 10 from 34 reviews sitting above both audience scores.