SYNOPSIS

A couple’s perfect picnic date starts to crack when the topic of having kids gets brought up. Pihla, 32, doubts if she is ready to become a parent and let go of her freedom as an independent artist and adventurer, while her partner Niko, 34, a somewhat naive romantic, seems ready to take the next step and settle down as a family. As their debate unfolds, the picnic of dreams slowly turns into a nightmare against the backdrop of a capricious Nordic summer.

INTENTION

Through its main character Pihla and her partner Niko, the story explores the generational experience of 30-something millennials who find themselves at a crossroads: if I walk through a certain door, another one will close on me. Should I live for myself, my career or for a family? If (or rather when) things are not going to play out perfectly, what am I willing to compromise on?

I know this struggle personally, as I am a 34-year-old millennial myself. In the film, I have chosen to focus on the question of whether to have children or not. In most countries birth rates are declining and the average age of childbearers is increasing every year. The film offers a peek into the existential dilemma many of us childless thirtysomethings behind those statistics are facing. Although the struggle can be real, the small tragedies of everyday life can also quickly become comedy.

The film depicts Pihla’s experience of a simple picnic as a surreal journey into her imagination, narrated by a choir singing solemn hymns about the destruction of the picnic date. One person’s heavenly summer day can be another person’s hell.