Following a huge November with this week’s US debut of BBC crime thriller Rebus (Intl Trailer, Wall Street Journal positive review) and the big-budget, fantasy adventure series Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter, a huge hit outside of the U.S. on Netflix (Nov. 21, Trailer), Viaplay US’s December slate features several exclusive US Premieres:

·         Ace of Base: All That She Wants (Thurs., Dec. 5) – International top-selling pop band Ace of Base share full story of phenomenal career in exclusive three-part documentary series featuring intimate, never-before-seen footage. Interview Opportunities: Band members Ulf Ekberg, Jenny Berggren (Trailer)

·         Listen Up! (Thurs., Dec. 12) – Award-winning comedy-drama feature film starring comedian Asim Chaudhry and based on a bestselling young adult novel tackles family, culture, gender identity and belonging. (Feature Film) Interview Opportunity: Asim Chaudhry (Trailer)

·         This Is not a Christmas movie (Sun., Dec. 1) – This award-winning black comedy follows a family's efforts to be virtuous, culminating in a Christmas dinner rife with miscommunications, romantic misadventures, and a potential hostage crisis. (Feature Film). Other holiday movie additions include: The Christmas Party and A Holy Mess.

The full, detailed December slate is below. Please watch and cover Viaplay’s exclusive US premieres featuring the very best in European television.

SPOTLIGHT DOCUMENTARY

Ace of Base: All That She Wants – Fascinating and uncensored music docuseries

Thursday, December 5 – Exclusive US Premiere

*Interviews available with band members Ulf Ekberg and Jenny Berggren

Trailer  

As one of the most successful bands of the 1990s with one of the highest-selling debut albums globally of all time (Happy Nation/The Sign) and over 11 million monthly streaming listeners on Spotify, award-winning Swedish pop band Ace of Base chronicle their unexpected ascent to stardom and its accompanying highs and lows, in an all-new, revealing documentary series featuring private, unseen home movie footage and intimate diaries. Behind their accomplishments lay deep darkness that saw Ulf Ekberg threatened by right-wing extremists, Jenny Berggren attacked by a German fan with a knife in her home and then disagreements over songs and money that eventually led to their demise.

Though no one believed in them at first, the pop quartet eventually became a cultural phenomenon thanks to their contagious #1 pop/dance hits "All That She Wants", “The Sign”, and “Don’t Turn Around,” ultimately becoming Sweden's third biggest pop export after ABBA and Roxette. The series features candid interviews with band members, managers, colleagues including music icon Clive Davis, as well as such celebrities as Wyclef Jean. (3 Episodes, English and Swedish with subtitles.)

SPOTLIGHT: MOVIE

Listen Up! – Award-winning Coming-of-Age Dramedy starring Asim Chaudhry

Thursday, December 12 – Exclusive US Premiere

Trailer  

*Interviews available with Asim Chaudhry

A festival favorite with wins for ‘Audience Award’ and ‘Best Youth Film’, Listen Up! aka Hør her'a! is a coming-of-age comedy feature that follows the life and challenges of Mahmoud, a teenager growing up in an immigrant community just outside Oslo. The film is based on a bestselling young adult novel by Gulraiz Sharif and is directed by Norwegian-Iranian filmmaker Kaveh Tehrani.

We join Mahmoud, played in a stellar performance by newcomer Mohammed Ahmed, at the start of the summer holidays as he deals with family challenges, finding love and his never a dull moment neighbourhood. When his Uncle Ji (Two-time BAFTA nominee Asim Chaudhry, People Just Do Nothing) visits for the first time from Pakistan, not only does Mahmoud have to guide his uncle around the city, but he must also teach him about a life he doesn’t understand. Then, in the middle of it all, Mahmoud discovers that his little brother Ali has a secret that will turn his whole life upside down.  

With heaps of humour and a wealth of colourful characters, the film tackles important themes, including family, culture, gender identity and belonging, in a unique, affecting and hugely entertaining way. (Feature Film 82 minutes, English, Norwegian, and Urdu with subtitle)

SPOTLIGHT: HOLIDAY PROGRAMMING

This is not a Christmas movie (Dit is geen kerstfilm) – Award-winning Dutch comedy (2024 Feature Film)

Sunday, December 1 – Exclusive US Premiere

*Winner of ‘Best Director,’ ‘Best Screenplay,’ and ‘Best Supporting Actor’ at Netherlands Film Festival 2024

An award-winning black comedy about a family's efforts to be virtuous, culminating in a Christmas dinner rife with miscommunications, romantic misadventures, and a potential hostage crisis.

Christmas is a time of getting together. Of fun and love. A time of Santa Claus and shopping for decorations. In the run-up to their annual Christmas dinner, we follow several family members in their separate failing attempts to be a good person. We start with Brechtje (60), the mother of the family, who gets cancelled by everyone without understanding why. Her husband, Martijn (62), falls in love with his younger colleague, but a true love like this just can’t be denied - or so Martijn thinks. Their son-in-law, Justus (34), gets lost on a Don Quichotesque quest for his masculinity, stretching his boundaries as well as his sphincter. While Jos (28), the middle child of Brechtje and Martijn, changes the world around with her tolerance and open mindedness - until her girlfriend wants to have a threesome. And all of that happens just before their annual Christmas dinner.

This is not a Christmas movie means to get a grip on the complicated times in which we now live. A time wherein everyone believes to have the answer, but no one listens. And so we end up in yet another Christmas dinner full of misunderstandings, accusations, bickering and maybe even in the escalating hostage of an attention-seeking adolescent son. (Feature Film, 115 minutes)

December 2024 full US line-up

Sunday, December 1

This is not a Christmas movie
An award-winning black comedy about a family's efforts to be virtuous, culminating in a Christmas dinner rife with miscommunications, romantic misadventures, and a potential hostage crisis. (2024 Feature Film, 115 minutes)

A Holy Mess (En underbar jävla jul)

Swedish feature film follows a gay couple that invites their somewhat homophobic families to meet for the first time during Christmas celebration. And they have a special gift in store for them. (2015 Feature Film, 120 minutes)

The Christmas Party (Julefrokosten)

In this comedic film, the annual Xmas lunch/party at a Danish auto shop follows tradition… The employees all get drunk and do crazy things. (2009 Feature Film, 120 minutes)

Thursday, December 5

Ace of Base: All That She Wants

International top-selling pop band Ace of Base share full story of phenomenal career in exclusive three-part documentary series featuring intimate, never-before-seen footage. Interview Opportunities: Band members Ulf Ekberg, Jenny Berggren (Trailer) (3 episodes, English and Swedish)

Thursday, December 12

Listen Up!

Award-winning comedy-drama feature film starring comedian Asim Chaudhry and based on a bestselling young adult novel tackles family, culture, gender identity and belonging. Interview Opportunity: Asim Chaudhry (Trailer) (Feature Film)

Thursday, December 19

Conspiracy of Silence

Presumed dead for the last 30 years, Robert Kastell (Jens Hultén, Bäckström, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation) returns to Sweden to seek revenge after a family tragedy. He starts working with a former journalist Rolf Höglund to take down an illegal arms dealer. (Swedish with English subtitles, 8x60’ episodes)

AVAILABLE TO BINGE

·         Rebus - Sir Ian Rankin’s iconic detective series starring Richard Rankin (Outlander) and recently aired on BBC to rave reviews and ratings. Intl BBC Trailer.

·         Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter, Season 1 (as of November 21) - One of the most ambitious Nordic series ever, this fantasy adventure series aired outside the US on Netflix and was a Top 10 series in 15 countries and was adapted by the creator of the iconic Nordic series The Bridge (Trailer)

·         All and Eva - Following its rave reviews, Swedish ‘Emmy’ nominations, and a record-breaking Swedish debut, the hilariously fresh take on the comedy-drama genre stars award-winning actress Tuva Novotny (#1 Netflix movie The Abyss, Annihilation) (Trailer)

·         Secrets – Award-winning director Kaspar Munk’s contemporary family drama series starring Pilou Asbæk (Game of Thrones, Uncharted), Iben Hjejle (High Fidelity), and Evin Ahmad (Who Is Erin Carter?) Trailer

·         ‘Max Verstappen Races into the US’ – Eleven documentaries in English with F1’s record-breaking, superstar racing driver, including Off the Beaten Track and Anatomy of a Champion (Trailer)

·         End of Summer - Recently aired on the BBC, this absorbing Nordic noir is based on the award-winning crime novel by a former police officer about the haunting secrets behind a long-lost disappearance (Trailer)

·         The Fortress - Featuring an all-star global cast led by Russell Tovey (Feud, American Horror Story, Being Human, Years and Years), Tobias Santelmann (Netflix’s Harry Hole, Exit), and Eili Harboe (Succession’s final season, The Architect) and winner of Best Screenplay at Series Mania, the timely Norwegian isolationist thriller is set in an eerily familiar 2037, where Norway has chosen to sever all ties with the rest of the world. Trailer (New York Times Feature)

About Viaplay:

The Viaplay streaming service features thousands of hours of premium Nordic and European series and films. Viaplay’s US content offering focuses on the Nordic region’s high-quality and psychologically penetrating titles: from atmospheric and suspenseful crime dramas and provocative and stylish young adult series to award-winning dramas and riveting documentaries. Now available:

·         Nordic Noir/Crime Dramas: Lars Mikkelsen in Face to Face, an intense interrogation drama; Murderesses, a gripping Polish crime thriller; Furia S1&2, a hit political thriller; Trom, a mystery set in the picturesque Faroe Islands; Detective Maria Kallo S1&2, based on the bestselling book series; Darkness: Those Who Kill S1-3, a hugely popular Nordic Noir series; and Black Sands, a dark, popular Icelandic mystery; as well as all three films from the renowned Millennium/The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy

·         Young Adult Series: Provocative dramas Threesome and Delete Me and coming of age LGBTQ+ short form series One of the Boys  

·         Dramas: Timely, isolationist drama The Fortress, starring Russell Tovey; The Architect, the award-winning dystopian dramedy starring Eili Harboe (Succession) and called “vicious and funny” by The New York Times; International Emmy-nominated The Dreamer – Becoming Karen Blixen starring Connie Nielsen (Gladiator); and Swedish ‘TV Drama of the Year’ nominee Limbo

·         Documentaries: Haunting true crime docuseries Under the Radar – Secrets of a Swedish Serial Killer operating in America; The Most Remote Restaurant in the World, a “can’t miss documentary” (Forbes) following the nearly impossible journey of a chef to set up shop in a remote location; and Liv Ullmann: A Road Less Travelled, a star-studded, intimate portrait of the legendary actress.