Show Me Love (Fucking Amal) (1998)

90% of critics liked it
(40 reviews)
84% of users liked it
(15,984 ratings)

Fucking Åmål is a coming-of-age comedy set in a sleepy little Swedish town called Åmål -- the most boring place on earth according to one of its residents, the adolescent girl Elin. Meanwhile, one of her classmates, Agnes, is quietly in love with Elin, but no one knows about it except her computer.… More Fucking Åmål is a coming-of-age comedy set in a sleepy little Swedish town called Åmål -- the most boring place on earth according to one of its residents, the adolescent girl Elin. Meanwhile, one of her classmates, Agnes, is quietly in love with Elin, but no one knows about it except her computer. The title comes from Elin's frequent comment about her new home town. The two share a kiss as the result of some cruel manipulation from Elin, but Elin soon returns to apologize, and the two spend a lengthy evening on the town together - an evening that culminates with a makeout session. Then, to cope with her burgeoning feelings for Agnes, Elin turns to a local boy, Johan, and dispenses with her virginity. In his first feature film, Lukas Moodysson shows the pains of growing up, particularly for a lesbian. Fucking Åmål was screened as part of the "Panorama" section of the 49th Berlin International Film Festival in 1999 and received the Teddy Award for Best Gay/Lesbian Film. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 29 min.
Directed By: Lukas Moodysson
Written By: Lukas Moodysson
Genres: Drama, Romance, Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Oct 15, 1999 Limited
On DVD: Oct 3, 2000
Studio: Strand Releasing

Critic Reviews

Lisa Alspector, Chicago Reader
This powerful, funny romantic drama neatly integrates the dilemmas of a girl in love, the girl she loves, a boy who also loves that girl, and that girl's sister.
Jeff Millar, Houston Chronicle
Dahlström and especially Liljeberg are first-rate.
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail
High school, small town, teenagers in hormone hell -- or is that heaven?
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
A completely charming reality-based romantic fantasy, both sweet-natured and sympathetic.
Charles Taylor, Salon.com
What keeps us watching are Liljeberg and Dahlström, both beautifully natural, and the hope that we'll get to see them together.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
The movie is funny, gentle, and true.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
A charming teen comedy from Sweden.
Renee Schonfeld, Common Sense Media
Poignant subtitled story about two teen girls in love.
Ken Fox, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Lukas Moodyson's debut feature has a grainy, immediate feel that nicely enhances the story's emotional honesty -- a quality that our own popular teen movies have only just begun to embrace.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
A simple, charming, and slightly edgy romance between two teenage girls.
Trevor Johnston, Time Out
While the storyline has few surprises, the central performances create a touching relationship, despite the suspicion that the male writer/director's interest in the subject is slightly dubious, or at least tokenistic.
Morgan Miller, Film Threat
Nobody can deny the honesty or the outright sincerity this film has.
Jeremy Heilman, MovieMartyr.com
Unfortunately, as the plot develops, it shies away from exploring that discontent, in favor of demonstrating precisely the kind of naiveté and sweetness that one would expect to find in any teen romance.
Liese Spencer, Sight and Sound
Moodysson's story may be an old one -- the taboo romance between lovers from different ends of the school spectrum -- but his sharp script refreshes old themes.
Jean Lowerison, San Diego Metropolitan
I must have missed what the Swedes see in this film. I found it mildly interesting at best.
Kevin N. Laforest, Montreal Film Journal
It's just an incredibly insightful character drama about true, awkward, beautiful first love, and it's all the better for it. Oh, and that last shot is as cute as it gets.
Paula Nechak, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
It's an awkward, unapologetic, unconventional -- and ultimately winning -- look at first love, one that unabashedly portrays the complications and confusion that result from those first crushes and rushes of attraction and passion.

Read all 17 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Leigh R

Slow but alright. The progress through the film goes well...
Anthony L

A very sweet youth love film. It came highly recommended but for me it?s nowhere near as good as the two films Moodysson followed it up with. The young actors are really good though and it can't help but make you feel good.
Panta O

Show Me Love, originally titled Fucking Åmål, is a 1998 Swedish film directed by Lukas Moodysson. Two seemingly different teenage girls strugling with understanding their feelings and how to deal with them. The film first premiered at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival under its original… More
Show Me Love, originally titled Fucking Åmål, is a 1998 Swedish film directed by Lukas Moodysson. Two seemingly different teenage girls strugling with understanding their feelings and how to deal with them. The film first premiered at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival under its original title but was changed because the Hollywood industry magazine Variety refused to run an advertisement for a movie with such a title. New title was chosen - director Moodysson took the new title from the song at the end of the film, by Robyn. Rebecka Liljeberg, as Agnes, and Alexandra Dahlström, as Elin were the real stars of this movie. Honest with hard questions but gentle in dealing with them. Lots of stories go around about this movie, especially the incorrect claim that the film had outgrossed the Hollywood film Titanic: In fact, Titanic had over twice as many viewers as Show me Love in Sweden in 1998.
Dimitris S

Realism,frivolous beauty and a caressing miracle in the routine of a Swedish small town,where the context of lesbianism is treated in utmost subtlety and openness.Moodysson is aware of his raw themes (remember Lilja 4-Ever) and I should cry out art-house cinema forever!
Ina S

So cute.