Apoteos

When 55-year-old divorced hairdresser Carina witnesses a séance by the charismatic psychic medium Fredrik, she enrolls in his course to become a psychic medium herself, hoping to find purpose in her lonely life.

There, Carina fixates on Hanna, a younger woman mourning her son’s death. Carina claims she can channel the spirit of the deceased child, letting Hanna hold him again - forming a secret bond between them.

Carina’s apparent success in helping the grieving mother, though no one knows how, sparks rivalry with course leader Fredrik.

As Hanna craves more and Fredrik schemes to undermine her, Carina’s deception spirals out of control - leading her into a dark place where she ironically begins to realize what she might truly be seeking in life.

When the 55 year old small town hairdresser Carina witnesses a group seance by the charismatic psychic medium Fredrik, she's set on taking his course to become just as adored by people as he is - to find purpose in her lonely life.
Fredrik’s course center turns out to be a haven for women Carina's age.
But Carina finds herself obsessed with the younger woman Hanna, who recently lost her 7 year old son in a train accident - or perhaps, god forbid, a suicide.
To Carina, being the one who helps a mother grieving her lost child would be the ultimate achievement.

During one drunken evening together, Carina claims to be able to become possessed by her deceased son, letting Hanna hold her lost child in her arms again.
This moment proves to be double edged though, as Carina realizes she’s in deep water now. And being held with what felt like sincere love, awakened something in her - an urge to feel loved. Is this the hole she was trying to fill in the first place?

Not knowing the full extent of events, the group still rewards Carina for being the one to help the grieving Hanna - something that doesn't pass unnoticed by Fredrik, who feels his status is threatened by this rising star.

Carina starts breaking under the pressure from Fredrik trying to undermine her, along with Hanna now feeling empowered to go further in the possessions than Carina is comfortable with, searching for the answers she desperately craves.
This, along with her newly awakened urges to cure the inner loneliness, Carina, decision after decision, becomes her worst self - manipulating the two.

As Hanna eventually, distraught, threatens to leave, Carina desperately convinces her to stay for one last possession.
But during this final session, her desperation reveals to Hanna the grotesque nature of what their possessions actually have been. When Carina realizes Hanna’s not buying it anymore, she goes physical, verging on assault. The situation climaxes in a violent, disheartening altercation between the two - leaving Carina once again alone, knowing she’s now ruined everything she had.

Having been told everything by Hanna, Fredrik decides to perform a cleansing ritual on Carina in front of all the other participants - to clear her of the dark energies, and put himself on top again once and for all.
Carina desperately hopes this will finally make her a good person - worthy of love.

And to Carina, broken as she now is, it works. For her, it’s a happy ending.

Director's note

Growing up, my mother dragged me along to an assortment of New Age activities. At first just an expensive hobby, but when my father suddenly passed, and my mother lost her job of 35 years, the life crisis pushed her deeper. Burdened by grief, and guilt from their quite tumultuous relationship, she searched for - and found - comfort with psychic mediums.

Observing this, I built a deep fascination for those people - the ones gathering around the grieving, lost and broken, offering answers to the unexplainable and instant relief from the deepest of wounds. What I saw was far from just cynical financial exploitation, but rather something way more complex - an array of wants and needs filled by the intimate connection and gratification that comes from helping the grieving.

Who am I to decide what’s right or wrong - if people should get the chance to move on, and at what cost? What does this mean for our society?
How far is it okay to go in our desperate pursuits to ease the pain we carry?

Inspired by Ulrich Seidl, Andrea Arnold and Isabella Eklöf, I want to create a love letter to these characters. A sensory portrait of the moral grey areas of the world of psychic mediums. I want to focus on the fact that we as humans, in our sometimes tragicomically desperate attempts at reaching love and forgiveness, ironically usually end up becoming our worst selves. An equally compassionate, and morally complex, sensory portrait of the deeply human urge to feel loved. More than that - to feel worthy of love - forgiven for our shortcomings.

Producer's note

APOTEOS explores deeply human longings—hope, comfort, validation, and connection—by asking how far we are willing to go to ease our inner pain. Against the backdrop of a renewed public fascination with New Age belief, the film engages with a timely and polarizing subject. Today’s mediums and healers, no longer hidden behind late-night astrology shows, are increasingly visible in mainstream media, sparking both intrigue and skepticism.
Rather than taking a stance for or against these practices, APOTEOS offers a compassionate, curious lens on those drawn to the New Age world. It doesn’t ask whether faith is valid, but instead examines our vulnerabilities — our shame, yearning, and attempts to heal — in the face of life’s challenges. The story aims to appeal to both critical and open-minded audiences, reflecting the cultural relevance of its themes.
The project's unique tone and perspective have already garnered national and international attention, as seen in the interest and funding received for both APOTEOS and its thematically linked short film, Dancing Pigeons. With co-production support from France (including CNC funding) and recognition from Swedish institutions, these indicators suggest strong potential and resonance for the full-length feature.
We’ve received development support from amongst others The Swedish Film Institute (80,000 SEK) and Film i Skåne (200,000 SEK) for Phase 1 and 2 of the development process - concept and first draft, and financing work respectively.
The funding was used to develop an extensive treatment for APOTEOS, written by Christofer Nilsson, using methods inspired by the “Less is More” program. Christofer now focuses on script development, most recently with a one-on-one workshop with script consultant Pierre Hodgson (Isabella Eklöf’s “Kalak”, Emilie Blichfeldt’s “The Ugly Stepsister”) in early June, followed by a writing period during the summer and the upcoming participation in the “Script Savages” workshop in September. This structured process aims to result in a foundationally strong script, focused on a universal appeal - through strong characters and clear emotional causality make sure it invites an international audience into this quite specific and absurd part of Swedish society, and takes them through a resonant emotional ride.
In parallel, with the experience of two international co-productions behind us, we’ve of course started discussions with potential partners about APOTEOS, with which we had established contact through earlier EU programmes, but now also during Berlinale and Cannes, where I attended as a producer with different talent programmes. Among them Soyo Giaoui from La Cellule Productions (France), Aymeric Isnard from Futur Antérieur Production (France), Caroline Steenberg Dam from Zentropa (Denmark), Sven Spur from Animal Tank (Belgium), Frank Walter from Paradoks (Germany), and Virginia Martin from Contando Films (Germany), who have shown prolonged interest. We are currently further exploring our funding and co-production possibilities, especially with Germany and Denmark, but we will of course need the strong backing of our national and regional funding bodies to begin with.

We hope you are as intrigued about APOTEOS as we are and would be delighted to take part in the Script Pool program with you.