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Parents' Guide to

Stockholm

By Tara McNamara, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Violent true-crime hostage dramedy makes bad guy likable.

Movie R 2019 92 minutes
Stockholm Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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What's the Story?

STOCKHOLM is based on the "absurd but true" story of a 1973 bank heist gone awry in Stockholm, Sweden, which resulted in the hostages siding with their captors against law enforcement. Ethan Hawke plays Lars Nystrom, the felon who stages the bank robbery and takes hostages, whom he wants to trade for his imprisoned best friend, Gunnar (Mark Strong). But when the Swedish prime minister refuses to let the criminals leave the scene with the hostages, drawing out the standoff over multiple days, the captives start to see the government as the enemy.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

We've all heard about something being too good to be true, but Stockholm may be an example of being too true to be good. "Stockholm syndrome" -- when a captive falls for their captor -- is such a preposterous phenomenon that it's become a punchline, and writer-director Robert Budreau runs with that notion. The term's origin story is given a whimsical tone punctuated with OMG moments, but it's not actually ha-ha funny. In keeping with the "absurd but true" real-life situation, Hawke opens the film putting on an outlandish get-up -- a shaggy wig, a Lone Star state leather jacket, and toy store glasses -- just like the real criminal who robbed KreditBanken in 1973. Lars brings games and a radio to entertain the hostages he knew he'd be taking. He sings Bob Dylan and dreams about Steve McQueen's car from Bullitt. And, just like in real life, when a young bank teller in his custody starts her period, he includes a box of tampons in his list of demands. Chief Mattsson (Christopher Heyerdahl) nails it: "He's a softie." And, once the police chief knows that, the hostage negotiation changes strategy, becoming its own psychological experiment.

Hawke has an entire filmography that proves he's great at playing a cad, a cutie, and a cut-up, so it's all in a day's work to throw all three together into a believable sympathetic screw-up. The audience gets Lars, and so does Bianca (Noomi Rapace), the married mother of two who is Lars' favorite hostage. But the film's purpose is to demonstrate how someone can find affection for a bank robber who regularly puts a gun to her temple, and that never quite translates. It's clear why the captives believe their best chance for survival is to side with the bad guys, and somewhat understandable that the bond they forged would lead them to protect their captors from untrustworthy cops. The romance part, though, is blurry: Bianca is a willing participant, but is she making out with Lars because she feels affection or because she wants to ensure her safety? Stockholm is entertaining and to some degree enlightening, but it doesn't deliver the understanding or the laughs that the premise promises.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Stockholm syndrome, a mental condition in which hostages develop a kinship with their captors as a means of survival that's believed to affect about 8 percent of those who are held captive. Do you believe it's real? Do you think it serves a function?

  • Do the characters in Stockholm demonstrate empathy? Is that an important character strength? Can someone have too much empathy? What would be an example?

  • Can anyone in this film be considered a role model? Why do they do the things they do?

  • Is Bianca brave, or is she in survival mode? What's the difference?

  • How are law enforcement personnel portrayed? How does that compare to the way the bank robbers are depicted? What outcome were you rooting for? Why do you think movies sometimes like to make heroes out of those who break the law? Is there something good that can come out of finding empathy for those who do wrong?

Movie Details

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