Director: Lisa Langseth
Original Title: Till det som är vackert
Language: Swedish

Main Cast: Alicia Vikander, Samuel Fröler, Josephine Bauer, Martin Wallström, Helén Söderqvist

20-year-old Katarina is from a run-down Gothenburg suburb. She can never hold down a job for more than a couple of weeks. When she happens to stumble upon a YouTube clip of Mozart’s Requiem, to her amazement she is entranced; classical music is completely new to her.

Wanting to find a new identity for herself, Katarina lies her way into the job of concert hall receptionist. She leaves her boyfriend and turns her back on her mum and her friends, and starts up a relationship with the older, married concert hall chief conductor, Adam – all to achieve what she feels is beautiful, what’s pure.

But her new world soon proves to be one of power gaming and social codes, which thwart any individual stepping out of line. Katarina has burnt all her bridges, but is nonetheless determined to hang on to her new life – whatever the price.

In this, her film debut, Alicia Vikander gives a towering and powerful performance as Katarina. It was to be her breakout role and has led to high-profile international work; she went on to star in the Oscar-nominated A Royal Affair and then as Kitty in Joe Wright’s Anna Karenina, for which she won rave reviews.