I like space. There are no problems in space. No misunderstandings. No chaos. Because in space, there are no feelings.
Simon is not like any other kids. He likes things simple, terrified of chaos. To be clear, anything that might lead to chaos. Prefers circles to humans, because circles are continuous while humans are complex and hard to understand. Instead of making a reference, he talks as he means it. Dropping a hint seems like nonsense to him. As his perception of like is that simple and plain for complex relationships between people, he tends to make unspoken functions of society more concrete as much as he can.
Swedish director Andreas Öhman’s first feature film, I Rymden Finns Inga Känslor focuses on the life of an 18 year old Simon who has Asperger’s Syndrome and his brother Sam who is in the middle of Simon’s life because he is the only person who gets along with Simon. The order of life gets destroyed when Sam’s girlfriend leaves him. She tells Simon to find another girl who can stand living with him. Like someone in Simon’s situation, he takes her seriously and makes himself responsible for finding a new girlfriend for his brother. Mission Simon takes is told mostly funnily, though he is extremely serious and sometimes out of space. His story tends to say that it is easy to live with someone with differences as long as you have sense of humor to cope with problems in life and respect for the differences that makes them who they are. Pure and truthful brotherly love tragedy is accompanied with Simon’s colleagues for comic relief. As Sam likes Simon, the audience is expected to like these characters with their flaws and innocence.
Explanations of feelings, placement of objects and camera seems highly influenced by cinematography in Wes Anderson movies. Geometrical shapes and pastel color palette with nicely touched contrast. Simon and Sam’s interactions with each other seems like Sherlock and his confidant John Watson in some ways. Considering he was only 20 at the time, Bill Skarsgård does a pretty well job by creating a believeable character that could have been caricaturized in someone else’s hand.
