Every life is interesting – take, as an example, Charlotta Bjorck, who started working in healthcare when she was just 15. A decade later, she’s a wife and mother to two kids, one of them having behavioural issues, causing her to worry. That worry gets bigger as she decides to leave her healthcare job behind. She wants to be a comedian who does sketches on Instagram.

Ok, maybe calling Bjorck an Instagram comedian feels reductive because she’s actually doing things to break into the mainstream. This involves creating video packages for a sketch comedy pilot, or despite her comedy background, auditioning for cop drama shows. But can she be a successful working actress and comedian while her husband, caring for their children?

It’s been a while since I saw a montage in a documentary and Ellen Fiske’s new documentary uses that well. Mama Goals shows that titular mama under a makeup chair while one of her Instagram songs plays in the background. There’s a sincerity to all of this, letting the viewers know that there’s more to her road to comedy success.

Fiske’s attentive camerawork follows Bjorck as she shuttles between Malmo to Stockholm, her dutiful husband meeting her in the middle. The camera, in all its naturalism, catches how tired both are, and even Bjorck’s narration points to this sad fact. Mama Goals show both as sympathetic figures and helps viewers understand the sacrifices that its main subjects make.

Mama Goals also has its share of conversations that are brutal, like the one where they’re talking about separating. Despite it being brutal, it’s also a depiction of mature adults capable of switching into topics that have some levity. All in all, this documentary is a good starting point in depicting the life of someone who’s famous in Sweden and more.