Girls Lost 2015

Best friends Kim, Tuva Jagell / Emrik Öhlander, Momo Louise Nyvall / Alexander Gustavsson, and Bella Wilma Holmén / Vilgot Ostwald Vesterlund navigate a hostile school environment where harassment, bullying, and assaults from boys go unanswered by teachers.

The film follows their quiet resilience as they stumble through a daily rhythm of taunts and neglect, seeking even the smallest sense of control. After a chance discovery, the girls find a flower whose nectar can temporarily turn them into boys, a discovery that shifts the balance of power for them in the dark hours after school. For Momo and Bella, the transformation is unsettling and uncertain; for Kim, it feels like a door opening to freedom she has long imagined but never dared to walk through.

At a party hosted by Mandus Berg as Tony, Bella chokes on a joint, and when the room erupts with laughter, Kim reluctantly joins in. The moment is a turning point: the next day, Kim confesses to Momo that she feels like there is a zipper down her back and another person inside her, if only she had the courage to pull it. The idea of a double self becomes a fixation, and the group begins to see the possibility of choosing who they are, even if that choice is bound to danger and consequence.

Despite the dark undertones, the story emphasizes growth and courage. The experience of shifting identities gives Momo and Kim a new sense of confidence with their bullies and the negligent teacher, revealing how fear can be confronted when a lineage of harm is challenged. Yet the flower’s life is limited, and Kim keeps taking its nectar to sustain her male form so she can spend more time with Tony, a troubled teen and petty thief whose world feels both thrilling and perilous.

The plot intensifies when Tony teaches Kim how to drive. In a brutal moment, he pulls a gun from the glove compartment and oddly advises Kim on suicide, a line that underscores the toxicity of Tony’s world and the danger they’re navigating together. > he doesn’t know who he is either

The entanglement deepens as Momo questions Kim’s feelings, asking whether Kim loves Tony or wants to be him. Kim admits a complicated pull toward Tony, while Momo reveals a more hopeful truth: she is in love with Kim, and she wonders if Kim wants to be a boy or be with boys. The conversation marks a fragile turn in their relationship, with both girls wrestling with identity, desire, and loyalty.

Their bond is tested when Kim’s longing for Tony leads to a shattered trust. A kiss attempt flares into violence: Tony punches Kim, douses her with lighter fluid, and threatens to set her on fire. Kim runs, and Momo enters in her male guise to offer support, expressing understanding of Kim’s zipper metaphor but acknowledging that both Bella and she once dreamed of being girls. Momo pledges to stay in a male persona for Kim, a gesture that underscores the complexities of their shared journey even as Kim pulls away.

Kim eventually reaches a warehouse where Tony and other youths gather, hoping to find some sense of belonging. She discovers Tony attempting to assault another girl and immediately steps in, delivering a brutal kick until Momo intervenes. Kim refuses to stop drinking the nectar, and a rift widens between her and Momo as she resists the latter’s pleas and affection. In a culmination of anger and heartbreak, Momo burns down the greenhouse and the flower, erasing the source of their temporary transformations and signaling a devastating end to their experiment.

Grieving and unsettled, Kim packs a bag, leaves a note for her mom, and tapes another note to Momo’s window before visiting Bella to say goodbye. Bella hands over the ravaged roots of the plant, a poignant symbol of what they have lost and what they may never reclaim. Kim drives away from the city, the road ahead long and uncertain, and she is last seen on a rural stretch, parked and crying with a gun in hand.

The film leaves viewers with a stark meditation on power, identity, and the price of escape, painting a nuanced portrait of adolescent fear and longing that lingers well after the flower’s magic fades.