Bergman Island 2021

A filmmaking couple, Chris and Tony Sanders, travel to Fårö, the rugged island where Ingmar Bergman long lived and worked, to attend a screening of Tony’s film. Tony is an ardent admirer of Bergman and feels a deep pull from the place, while Chris wrestles with Bergman’s personal failings—his treatment of the women in his life and as a father—even as she remains moved by his cinema.

During the Q&A after the screening, Chris slips away and, at the church where Bergman is buried, meets Hampus, a Swedish film student taking part in a residency. He invites her to explore the island beyond the usual Bergman Safari, and she accepts, leaving Tony to wander the tourist itinerary alone.

The next day, after realizing how productive Tony has found his time on the island, she opens up about her own creative block and reveals a rough outline. She hopes Tony can help, yet when he isn’t at his desk in a nearby cottage, Chris sneaks a look at his journal and discovers a disturbing set of hand-drawn images—provocative depictions of female figures in painful, subjugated positions.

In Chris’s screenplay, Amy, an American filmmaker in her late twenties, travels to Fårö for a friend’s wedding. There she reconnects with Joseph, a man with a past romance who rekindles their connection as adults before they drift apart again. Their day unfolds with the wedding celebrations, a shared moment of skinny dipping, and a thorny conversation about love and fidelity. Amy is crushed to learn that Joseph has repeatedly been unfaithful to his girlfriend, and the morning after, Joseph voices regret while Amy remains unconvinced about letting go. As the brief time together winds down, Joseph’s evasions intensify, and he eventually leaves the island without saying goodbye. Back in the present, Chris processes these notes as she contemplates a darker ending for her own story, with Tony alternating between interruptions and quiet disengagement, ultimately saying he can’t help her finish.

Tony returns to the island to fetch their daughter, June, while Chris continues to work, retreating to her study. She makes a pilgrimage to Bergman’s Estate and encounters Hampus again, who leaves her the key and briefly ushers her toward Bergman’s house. There she meets the presence of a fellow actor, and a moment of shared curiosity about the man behind Bergman’s legacy deepens. Later that evening they share a dinner that features Mia Wasikowska, and in a quiet, intimate stretch, Anders Danielsen Lie joins the scene to play a game of Ludo with Chris, thanking her for casting him in the film and encouraging her to get some rest before the busy days ahead.

When Tony finally returns with June, the pair—Chris and June—reunite at a windmill on Bergman’s property, a simple moment that glows with the possibility of a renewed collaboration between art and life on the enigmatic island.