Adult Supervision

When you’re 13, the chance to go away for a week with your friends and escape parental control is amazing. Trips like this are a standard part of growing up in many parts of the world, including Sweden, and they provide entertainment and security along with a measure of independence. They’re usually run by young people who are capably of shouldering the responsibility involved but whom the kids can still relate to, and perhaps see as role models. Often there are a few older adults around just in case, and in the case of the trip we see in this film, three parents are asked to accompany a class of high school pupils.

Bill (Gustaf Skarsgård) is the first to speak up, eager to spend some quality time with his daughter Ester – though she has other ideas about what she wants to do there. Bobo (Fares Fares) genuinely seems to relish the challenge and the holiday aspect of it, whilst showing off his strong, affectionate relationship with daughter Julia. Pontus (Linus Wahlgren), father of small, shy Noomi, is talked into it by his wife, but seems cheerful enough. The camp is based on a small, forested island, with cabins for the kids to share and another, at a distance, for the three men. On the boat on the way over, Pontus makes inappropriate sexual remarks about the girls. Bobo hesitates for a moment, then laughs along. Bill belatedly smiles to hide his discomfort, and the rest of the story proceeds from there.

Multiple threads run through the film, which follows a fairly predictable but not boring course before shifting gears towards the end and going somewhere much darker. The men laugh as they examine graffiti in their cabin, with Pontus belatedly pointing out that it was probably written not by children but by adults doing the same job as them. Mischievous behaviour by kids who introduce themselves as Lion Laban and Leopold Dogfucker leads to a brief stand-off in the cafeteria, which Bill proves hopelessly ill-equipped to handle prior to Bobo taking over and terrifying the miscreants. He’s one of those guys who seems to sail through life, easily dominating any situation, making the others feel weak by comparison. He confidently deals with bullying, whilst Bill focus on trying to be there for the bullied boy, Kenneth (Olof Olingdahl), though it emerges that neither may have fully understood a complex situation.

Bullying damages a person in a way that stays with them, says Bill, and it’s unclear who he’s trying to save. He begins to irritate Bobo, who suggests messing with him for a laugh, and adult dynamics begin to resemble those of the kids. Pontus, meanwhile, is distracted by curvaceous young camp supervisor Olivia (Elsa Öhrn), who is clearly much smarter than him and easily shows him up, but doesn’t seem entirely uninterested. There’s a twist in their story which elevates the film above simple dark comedy, with some astounding work from Öhrn which, in itself, supports one of the film’s themes – that young people are capable of a lot more than adults tend to give them credit for.

Noomi is distraught at her father’s behaviour – and at his pitiable efforts on the dancefloor – but he pays her very little heed. Julia has the sort of unwise adventure common at that age, which Bobo reacts to with pointed anger only to laugh about it later. Ester, meanwhile, is waiting for Bill to recognise that the balance of their relationship has changed. She needs his attention, but she is, perhaps, no longer the one who needs to be taken care of.

There’s an astute understanding of trauma underlying the comedy here, and it informs every aspect of the larger narrative. The performances are strong across the board, with all the younger actors very natural and very much at ease. Writer/director Alex Schulman has an understanding of their behaviour which suggests that he still remembers the dynamics that many adults forget or intentionally erase from their minds. They come across as fully realised individuals, inscrutable to the fathers only because the fathers are not yet willing to accept that; but they have moments of shocking vulnerability, and we are never allowed to forget that they do need the supervision which, in this case, is in short supply.

Adult Supervision screened as part of Fantastic Fest 2026, and is well worth seeing if you get the chance – a smart film all round, and with unexpected depths.

Reviewed on: 23 Sep 2026