古尔斯朋的奇迹 / Miraklet i Gullspång (2023)

　　Norwegian sisters Kari and May are devout in their religious convictions — to the degree that they perceive divine signs all around them. When May visits Kari in Sweden and decides to buy an apartment in the area to be closer to her, both sisters end up experiencing a divine sign at one particular apartment that prompts them to buy it. However, once they convene to buy it, they witness a shocking revelation that turns their lives upside down: the seller looks identical to their older sister Astrid, who committed suicide some thirty years before. What’s even more unusual: Olaug, the seller of the apartment, used to go by “Lita,” the same distinctive nickname as Kari and May’s deceased sister.　　The sisters recruit director Maria Fredriksson to pursue these unusual circumstances, and the filmmaker is thrust into uncovering secrets and eerie mysteries of a bizarre family story. Fredrikkson’s The Gullspång Miracle is a mesmerizing and consistently surprising documentary that epitomizes the ‘stranger than fiction’ narrative. Replete with comically awkward situations and one engrossing revelation after another, the film is a deft exploration of identity and the consequences of stubborn beliefs.—Jose Rodriguez　　---------------------------　　A series of coincidences lead sisters Kari and May to Olaug, the spitting-image of an older sibling who was believed to have committed suicide decades ago.　　When May is injured in a freak accident on a rollercoaster ride, she and her sister Kari decide to buy a home in the small Swedish town of Gullspång. But when the siblings encounter the property’s seller, Olaug, they become convinced that she is their older sibling, Lita, who allegedly committed suicide some 30 years earlier. It is at this point that documentary filmmaker Maria Fredriksson, at the behest of the sisters, begins to investigate this strange history. Gradually, she pieces together a domestic jigsaw puzzle, resulting in a blackly-comic family drama that journeys down a series of surprising – and sometimes downright unbelievable – paths. Combining dramatic re-enactments with archival footage, The Gullspång Miracle weaves a true-crime narrative into a unique tale of a family struggling with loss and deception.　　---------------------------