Belstone Pictures, Picnik Entertainment and Deadbeat Studios just unveiled the latest trailer and poster for the British mockumentary Swede Carolin, offering an appetizing taste of the cutthroat world of giant vegetable cultivation.
This biting satire comes from the creative minds of directing duo Brook Driver and Finn Bruce, marking their first feature collaboration. The pair previously joined forces – Bruce as Producer and Driver as Co-writer – on the darkly comedic Paul Dood’s Deadly Lunch Break, which garnered the Special Jury Prize at SXSW 2021.
With its mockumentary style and eccentric personalities, early buzz compares the film to hit comedies like The Office and Ben Wheatley’s offbeat Sightseers. Set at an annual giant vegetable competition, the film follows newcomer Caroline (played by Jo Hartley – “After Life,” Eddie the Eagle) as she seeks to grow record-breaking marrows. But her dreams are threatened when Caroline’s prized plants mysteriously disappear.
Caught in a right pickle, and determined to get to the bottom of her missing marrows, she enlists the help of two private detectives (Aisling Bea – This Way Up, and Ray Fearon – Beauty and the Beast), who are then dramatically kidnapped. Could the events be related in any way? No, of course not. But Caroline thinks they are and the hunt for her missing marrows takes her way beyond the allotments, plunging her into a national corruption scandal that goes all the way to the top!
As Caroline readies herself for the big championship with the help of her trusty partners Willy (Celyn Jones – The Almond and the Seahorse) and Paul (Richard Lumsden – Sense and Sensibility), she sets off in search of the truth. On the way enduring kidnappings, car chases and – worst of all – courgettes. But will the culprit ever be caught? Careening from one quintessentially British locale to the next no turnip is left unturned in Caroline’s quest for the truth.
The ensemble cast is rounded out with Fay Ripley (Cold Feet), Alice Lowe (Sightseers, Prevenge), and Steve Brody (“The Office”).
Director and producer Bruce is brimming with excitement over the release, calling it a “true celebration of the British film industry.” This feel-good film is being brought to cinemas through a self-distribution strategy, with supportive partners like Sky Cinema and Picnik Entertainment on board. Bruce enthuses, “It’s especially encouraging as it’s a film with such heart and a wonderful working-class female lead, instead of more superheroes and explosions!”
Hartley, who plays the lead, adds: “Caroline appeals to the everyman. She’s brave, unconventional, messy, down to earth and has a huge heart – she’s real. Her journey to fight for her friends and never give up is one we can all relate to. There’s nothing better than seeing this underdog hero win out!”
Swede Caroline is set to hit UK cinemas on April 19th and in the meantime, we’ll leave you with the trailer in which green fingers and egos clash in the quest for horticultural glory.
