Christoffer Sandler’s So Damn Easy Going is, an adaptation of a YA novel from Sweden. This review can’t judge whether the story translates well from page to screen, although yes, there is that feeling that not everything is all right on screen. That’s not necessarily true during the first act, which starts out as fine as it can. The film’s protagonist is Joanna (Nikki Hansenblad), who has a ‘special friend’ (Emil Algpeus) who knows people who sells condoms and drugs. He’s more generous about the condoms, which spills out of her bag for her fellow high school female peers to see. This is already awkward but that situation becomes twice that when Audrey (Melina Benett Paukkonen) walks in. Audrey is the new girl in school who Johanna wants to be cool around but she can’t. And that’s mostly because of her ADHD diagnosis. She doesn’t have access to meds neither.

What Joanna does to get her meds is what can make viewers lose sympathy with her. It’s understandable for protagonists to dip into criminal behavior on film but there’s something about the way Joanna does it here that feels incorrect. Maybe it’s the mix of genres. A gritty b-plot about drugs doesn’t fit in with a film that has the tone of a romantic dramedy. It gets worse when it returns to the A-plot between her and Audrey. Of course there’s a confrontation between them between the second and the third acts. What unites both plot arcs is Joanna, obviously. Again, we must understand the intersection of being 2LGBT+ and neuro divergence. People with those intersecting identities must be cagey about some aspects of their lives especially to proespective romantic partners. But the more this film goes on, the more its shows its shortcuts in approaching such touchy subjects.

Find out how to watch So Damn Easy Going here.