I was amazed at how excellent this film was. I just did not expect much and I was blown away. My first Mikael Hafstrom film was Derailed which also surprised me. It was not a great film but it was very good and much better than the general reviews that it garnered. It made me curious about Evil and I just cannot recommend this film enough. Andreas Wilson is terrific as the "title" character and the way his character develops is quite different from the way one might expect. You will be rooting for him to overcome the cruelty and evil that surrounds him throughout the film. If you enjoy coming of age tales do not miss this masterpiece. I look forward to Mr. Hafstroms future films. "1408" is up next and it sounds terrific.

One more thing, I just finished watching Saint Ralph and would highly recommend watching it as a double feature with "Evil". They really play well together.

Let's start with the obvious, "Evil" is a very misleading title. Maybe evil has a different, less sinister meaning in Sweden, or maybe not many truly evil events occur in Sweden because in America if the title of your movie is "Evil" there will be horrible, irredeemable monstrosity. If this is "Evil" in Sweden then what is murder considered?

A boy named Eirk Ponti (Andreas Wilson),who gets regularly abused by his stepfather, loves to take out his penned up aggression upon other youth. He's so adept at beating people up he was expelled from his school and sent to a boarding school called Stjarnsberg. At his new preppy boarding school the upperclassmen inflict the harm. When he defied the upperclassmen one too many times he brought all kinds of mistreatment upon himself and his friend Pierre (Henrik Lundstrom).

The whole movie was quite pedestrian. It was a mixture of "Animal House" and "Three O'Clock High." Erik was too cool and too boss to be a sympathetic character. Yes, he was getting mistreated by the arrogant seniors, but he knew and we knew he could beat them up at any moment, which he eventually did. But who cared? I certainly didn't. This movie failed to rile me up or stir me in any way, which is bad when that's what you're going for. They tried with futility to create a David v. Goliath scenario that fell flat on almost every level. It was really a Goliath in David's clothing v. Goliath.

But where they miss the mark the most is in titling this "Evil" when no one in this movie was truly evil.

Erik was just an abused youngster who could fight and went too far when fighting. The upperclassmen were just bourgeoisie who were following the pattern of the upperclassmen before them. Nothing was truly evil about any of it. Bad, wrong, oppressive? Yes. Evil? No. I'd much rather reserve that term for the inexplicably dastard. But hey, I'm not from Sweden. If this is their evil, I probably wouldn't mind it there because if this is evil then their good must be felicitous.

It is unfortunate that ONDSKAN ("EVIL") came out when it did, as it was narrowly beaten out for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film because it was up against one of the best films in that category that's so far been seen. THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS is a stunning film, but in most other years I think that ONDSKAN would have taken the prize--it was that good a movie.

One of the big reasons I was so excited to see this film is that it rarely took the anticipated route--often surprising me because of its intelligently written script. When the film begins, the viewer naturally thinks the evil mentioned in the title is the lead character, Erik. After all, he appears to be a sociopathic sadist as you see him beating a fellow classmate and showing no remorse whatsoever as he's expelled from public school. I hated Erik and I am sure practically everyone watching the film felt the same way. However, out of the blue, you slowly learn that despite his temper, Erik is not above redemption and he actually tries very hard to follow the rules at an exclusive prep school.

In fact, the "evil" is referring to the school and the brutal system that is in place. Upper class men are bullies of the worst possible kind and yet despite horrible humiliation and torment, Erik is determined to withstand all the injustices because he wants to get into college and make something of himself. It was amazing how after a short time, you were hoping Erik would be violent and act out on his natural impulses! But instead, he proves he is better than the upper class snobs and fascists who to run roughshod over the younger students.

Later, the film takes many interesting twists and turns--most of which you probably won't anticipate--after all, the writing is brilliant and they don't take the cheap or clichéd way regarding the plot. I'd talk about all these great moments, but don't want to ruin it for you. Suffice to say, Erik does have revenge, of sorts, but he's able to also preserve his humanity in the process. Plus, the film really ends well with an implied ending that doesn't need to be seen--trust me on this.

About the only negatives are the adultness of the film. While this might be okay for some teens, it's still a very adult film due to some intense violence and a scene involving feces and vomit (it's NOT for the faint-hearted).

Great acting, writing and direction--this film is amazing. Give it a watch--but not with the kids, please!!