TIFF24 REVIEW: Den svenska torpeden [The Swedish Torpedo] [2024]

Rating: R | Runtime: 136 minutes
Release Date: November 15th, 2024 (Sweden)
Studio: TriArt Film
Director(s): Frida Kempff
Writer(s): Frida Kempff & Marietta von Hausswolff von Baumgarten

I’ll crawl the whole way.

It starts with failure. Sally Bauer (Josefin Neldén) is foiled by the cold, cutting her crossing of the Kattegat short and forcing her to return home with no other options but to begin housewife school so her mother will continue paying her rent. She needs that money after losing out on the swim’s prize because she’s raising her young son Lars (Arthur Sörbring) alone. He doesn’t mind, though, because he’s proud of her and knows she’ll defeat both it and the English Channel soon. Even so, that pride only goes so far when her drive always seems to come at his expense. Especially when her mother and sister (Lisa Carlehed’s Carla) refuse to let her forget it.

The biopic director Frida Kempff puts on-screen via The Swedish Torpedo (co-written by Marietta von Hausswolff von Baumgarten) is “inspired by true events” with the stipulation that some scenes and characters have been created to do so (a very carefully worded introductory frame that can’t help feeling like a response to the “Baby Reindeer” controversy). It’s an inspiring tale not only because of the swim (similar to Nyad from last year) and the era wherein doing this type of thing as a woman proves infinitely more impossible than as a man, but also because of the backdrop of WWII. If Sally waits too long, she might never have another chance.

Drama is heightened too by these social circumstances. Sally is pretty much told she’s a bad mother by her own, guilted into believing it too since Carla “would make such a good one” if she weren’t a victim to miscarriage. Her love (and Lars’ father) is a married man (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard’s Henry) who adores her yet cannot muster the courage to do something about it while also proving her best shot at swimming due to his job as a sports writer supplying the necessary connections to legitimize the event and enlist sponsors. And trying to survive as a single mother in the late 1930s means relying on women who won’t also emotionally blackmail her for the trouble—a short list.

A lot is covered in these two hours, some of which can feel rushed (like her tragic friendship with Electra Hallman’s Karin). Scenes like the sexist display of men deciding where to put their logos on her body might hit home politically, but they also feel forced in context with the more personal story beats. The Swedish Torpedo is never better than when Sally is made to stand up for herself whether opposite her disapproving mother, conflicted sister, ashamed lover, or frightened son. Not only because this is where we see her fight most (the swimming scenes are brief), but also because it renders the stakes much higher than notoriety. Although being an inspiration for women is no small feat itself.

The best moments are with Lars because you recognize the cost of this pursuit through him. He craves being her cheerleader, yet he’s too young to reconcile that desire with the hope for her survival. Because death is a real risk. When she takes him to help her practice and the mood strikes her to float in the water and lose herself to time, Lars must assume she’s drowned. Forgiveness isn’t easily won upon her return either since there’s truth to loved ones imploring her to accept she has responsibilities to uphold. Should they come so much further forward than the swim to render it an unworthy lark? That’s for Sally and Sally alone to decide.

Neldén delivers a fine performance that reminded me of Sandra Hüller with a burning tenacity to drag everyone else into the fight with her considering Sally can’t do this alone despite how much it seems like she is. Henry is crucial to pointing her in the right direction. Carla is necessary as a loving aunt and championing sister without falling prey to the prevailing thought she’s stealing her child. And Lars is as much a reason to keep going as the young woman who asks for an autograph since this type of feat is nothing if not an example for the next generation to realize their dreams are attainable. Even on the brink of war.