Long Live the Bonus Family Review: Originally called Lange Leve Bonusfamiljen, the Swedish film is a follow-up to the four seasons of the hit TV series Bonusfamiljen aka Bonus Family, and it stars Erik Johansson as Patrik, Vera Vitali as Lisa, Frank Dorsin as Eddie, Lilly Lexfors as Lo, Fredrick Hallgren as Martin, Johan Ulveson as Jan, Klara Hodell as Molly and others. The film has been written by Moa Herngren and directed by Felix Herngren.
The drama comedy first released at the end of 2022, but has now received its OTT premiere on Netflix on August 16, 2023. With a runtime of 106 minutes, it also has English subtitles for international audiences.
Long Live the Bonus Family Netflix Movie Contains Spoilers
Long Live the Bonus Family Review: Discussion
The movie’s premise picks up from where the fourth season of the Swedish show left us. Finally getting over (or so we think) Patrik’s infidelity, the film’s plot moves on to “better” things for him and Lisa, who’ve now patched up their marriage. However, while flowing with the flow, fate again turns the table on the couple’s happiness as they receive an intimation from the district court about their divorce papers, which Lisa had first filed as a result of being overcome by emotions on hearing of Patrik’s truth.
Despite all the work put in by the couple to make their relationship stick the landing, they first try to come to terms with this formality, to which, Patrik sees only one solution – renewing their vows. With the upcoming New Year’s celebration, he sees the perfect opportunity to pop the question and prepares Lisa beforehand by constantly nudging the idea of their re-marriage into her foresight. Even through all the yeses and the couple’s attempts to put their scarring past behind them, it’s hard to ignore how much things have changed between them.
The movie could’ve easily dealt with this dysfunctionality and the pressure of them having to stick together due to their extended “bonus” families, including kids they’d had with their former partners, and it would have been a hit, but instead it offers us a whiny couple in return that we can’t help but detest as viewers. Neither is one able to root for the marriage, nor the individual counterparts involved in this exchange. Patrik and Lisa’s characters emerge as a nuisance through it all.
Their entire discourse around making their marriage work, even when it overtly just isn’t flourishing, could’ve provided us with more of a heart wrenching drama, further illustrating how certain marriages are just not meant for the longer run, but none of that ground is ever covered in the nearly two-hour long film.
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Even the huge pack of kids involved in this supposed “bonus family” are almost always left as an afterthought, with barely one or two moments being shared with them. By the end of it, you realise that the film’s title neither works, nor is it justified, because despite including a huge cast playing their long family panel, none of these supporting characters see the light of the day, and merely end up staying back as an invisible crowd that has no significance at all.
I know that probably it was the plot’s larger purpose to shed light on how Lisa and Patrik don’t work together, which is why so much time is put into drawing upon their failing marriage while they engage in endless sessions of hefty arguments and disagreements. However, the end result is so fickle that ultimately only a whiny couple is left on the screen, and you as a viewer just wait for them to break up already so that all this head-aching annoyance is put to an end.
The only moments that I remembered after watching this film were those significantly lesser ones that featured the kids having to deal with all this vexation, especially on seeing that their parents don’t fit together. Ironically, these younger additions end up being maturer than the adults present in this chaos, and yet their presence is overwhelmingly overshadowed by other unimportant time consuming happenings.
Moreover, a slight LGBTQ+ twist is also included into the conversation, but yet again, despite taking over the crucial profundity of how an adult man has possibly stayed closeted all his life, this film simply fails to push out any meaningful talks or representation in any way whatsoever.
Long Live the Bonus Family Movie: Final Thoughts
At first, I thought that this movie would be a family-driven narrative, especially with the background imagery setting up the scene for a grand gathering of the members during the Holiday season. However, it’s only a massive failure in the end. Plus, I can’t bring myself to fully understand why it’s been listed under the comedy category, because after having sat through this I’m only further left questioning as to where this comedy was to be found.
I wouldn’t recommend this movie to anyone. There are ample number of impactful family drama films out there. You can pick out anyone of them over this any day of the week. Even after bringing on such a big group of people onboard, Long Live the Bonus Family movie miserably fails to flesh out any of its characters, bring up a powerful conversation around family and marriage or even inculcate a tiny sense of what comedy is.
Both the TV series and the Lange Leve Bonusfamiljen movie are now streaming on Netflix.
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… agree completely… well written review … guess on the brighter side, it gave many actors and production staff paychecks over several years.. that’s-somethin
It was such a TERRIBLE ending to a great show that I have loved the past few years. Even if it went off the rails in season 4, there was still time to make it better. I still felt like they would end up together, even in the last five minutes, I was strung along only for him to end up with Elin after all? So out of character for him. Pure misery to watch, the whole thing. Wish they would have a season 5 and it all have been just a bad dream.
I totally agree with the reviewer.Who thought this film was a good idea?The therapist putting his kiss of death on their remarriage.One minute they were overcoming their difficulties because they loved each other no matter what.The next ,it was all over.The other characters were meant to bring comedy I suppose but they were just annoying.I felt sad for the children whose lives were barely considered.I know it’s fiction but it left me wishing I’d never watched it.
And for a bonus family where the hell is the oldest daughter? We’re just killing off characters now? What a waste!
Completed the series and the Movie. Have to agree. the movie was kind of a downer. Comedy? Hardly. They ended season 4 with just a tiney glimmer of hope for the series (overall I didn’t mind the series). However, by the end of movie it really kind of went off the rails. Sure, maybe they loved each other, but the arguments they had were kind of getting old. Even there little girl said they were happier apart. You end up feeling sorry for him as he is taking it hard and was trying so hard to make it work. Even though having cheated was his fault, and he argumentative personality was insufferable. The saddest part was now they were creating another ours and theres family situation and this time with 2 young children and one with special needs. This could maybe be the reality of what families can and do go through when they get divorced. Still not a good ending.