Opening this Friday at the Laemmle Royal and Glendale, Paradise is Burning is an emotional drama that navigates the complexities of society and family in working-class Swedish suburbia. Three sisters – sixteen-year-old Laura (Bianca Delbravo), twelve-year-old Mira (Dilvin Asaad), and seven-year-old Steffi (Safira Mossberg) – are left to their own devices by their absent mother. As summer approaches, the trio revels in the excitement of freedom, letting their days unfold without the constraints of adult supervision. However, when Laura receives a call that threatens to place them in foster care, she frantically searches for a substitute mother to avoid this fate. Keeping the truth hidden from her younger sisters, Laura navigates the blurred lines between the thrill of independence and the harsh realities of growing up, as the sisters’ relationships with each other are put to the test.
“Not many films can make you simultaneously think of Sean Baker, Andrei Tarkovsky, and David Lynch. Yet those are the filmmakers that come to mind when watching Paradise is Burning, the spectacular debut feature from Mika Gustafson. What feels like a straightforward family drama adds a small dose of surrealism to add some complexity, resulting in an original work that will stand as one of the most moving films of 2024.” ~ Joshua Stevens, Loud & Clear Reviews
Writer-director Mika Gustafson and co-screenwriter Alexander Öhrstrand recently sat down with Greg Laemmle and Raphael Sbarge to talk about Paradise is Burning on the new podcast Inside the Arthouse. Greg calls the film his favorite of the year so far.