Beards, polyamory, nudity and communal living – oh you snappy-dressing and quick-witted hippies, prepare to confront your dysfunction! While in the midst of coming together and having a serious discussion about, er, doing the dishes, a houseful of free-thinking, bourgeoisie-bashing frondeurs is interrupted when Goran’s sister, and her two children, show up seeking refuge. Begrudgingly, they are accepted into the cozy household, and the other residents soon begin to examine their own personal commitments to the leftist ideals they espouse. Each character’s struggle to reconcile their conflicting senses of identity, community and authenticity is played out on the screen while we begin to wonder, at its heart, is the “Together” house truly a caring, nurturing commune that fosters self-expression, freedom and social equality, or is it merely a platform for social, sexual and political posturing? And, as you might expect, when ideology meets reality, train wrecks ensue! No, this is not some wacky new reality show following the lives of disingenuous hipsters in Portland, Oregon. It’s actually set in Sweden! In the 70’s! Progg! ABBA! Moodysson adeptly explores the conflicting natures of both children and adults in the household, and we realize they’re not all that different. The adults are just as confused and torn up by their emotions as the kids, everything around them is bizarre and strange and doesn’t make any sense, life is uncertain and discombobulating, and an overpowering angst, tempered by ennui, pervades throughout. Yet the children have no ideologies to cling to or fight against, no way to externalize their inner turmoil, and are thus forced to be genuine, if nothing else. The adults, however, are adrift in a miasma of conflicting thoughts, emotions and ideas about what is “right” in the world, independently lost, yet sharing their pain, together. I have to say I was a little surprised with the cornball ending, this is Lukas Moodysson after all, but it works.