access CINEMA is releasing Norwegian filmmaker Dag Johan Haugerud’s acclaimed ‘Oslo Stories Trilogy’ – Dreams, Love and Sex – in Irish cinemas this August.
Dreams – winner of the Golden Bear at the 2025 Berlin Film Festival – will release first on August 1st 2025, followed by Love on August 15th and Sex on August 22nd. The three films are all standalone stories featuring their own set of characters, and are thematically linked as they explore the protagonists’ romances, relationships and infatuations in Oslo.
In Oslo Stories Trilogy: Dreams, 17-year-old Johanne becomes infatuated with her charismatic French teacher Johanna. Uncertain whether the teacher’s kindness and affection towards her indicate any romantic intent, Johanne explores her complex and confusing feelings by writing them down as a novella. When Johanne’s protective mother and more liberal grandmother read the manuscript, the three generations of women each contemplate their hopes, dreams and sexuality.
Oslo Stories Trilogy: Love focuses on medical colleagues Marianne and Tor, who bump into each other on a ferry. Tor explains that he often uses the trip as a way to meet men for conversations and hook-ups. Commitment-phobe Marianne is intrigued and considers emulating Tor’s casual approach to sex and intimacy. However, both Marianne and Tor soon meet potential partners that challenge their perspectives on love and relationships.
Meanwhile, Oslo Stories Trilogy: Sex sees a chimney sweep open up to his colleague about a casual sexual encounter he had with another man. However, he strongly believes the encounter did not represent an expression of either homosexuality or infidelity – so much so that he tells his wife about what happened. Unsurprisingly, however, his wife and colleague have very different responses to this confession.
All three films operate as standalone stories, exploring the characters’ often messy feelings and actions in a refreshingly frank, open-minded and honest way. Taken together, they offer a deep and compelling examination of the way people navigate the complexities of modern relationships, sexuality and identity.
The Irish Film Institute in Dublin will screen all three films across the month of August, with screenings of Dreams beginning on August 1st. The three films will screen in Light House Cinema Dublin in August and September, with screenings in Triskel Cork to take place in September. The films will also screen across the access>CINEMA network of film clubs and arts centres in the coming months.
Screenings:
Irish Film Institute, Dublin
Oslo Stories Trilogy: Dreams – from August 1st
Oslo Stories Trilogy: Love – from August 15th
Oslo Stories Trilogy: Sex – from August 22nd
Light House Cinema, Dublin
Oslo Stories Trilogy: Dreams – August 23rd and 26th
Oslo Stories Trilogy: Love – August 30th and September 2nd
Oslo Stories Trilogy: Sex – September 7th and 9th
Triskel Arts Centre, Cork
Oslo Stories Trilogy: Dreams – September 15th
Oslo Stories Trilogy: Love – September 16th
Oslo Stories Trilogy: Sex – September 17th
Additional screenings coming soon
Reviews:
Oslo Stories Trilogy: Dreams
“As with the approaching Sex and Love instalments, desire is the quivering undertow here. But Dreams is more interior than its bedfellows, shifting between memory, fantasy, self-mythology and old-fashioned unreliable narration with arch ambiguity.” – Tara Brady, The Irish Times
“Elegantly styled, sensitively acted and crafted with keen intelligence… Dreams deserves admiration, with a terrific, highly affecting lead from up-and-coming Ella Øverbye” – Jonathan Romney, Screen Daily
“For anyone with sharp recollections of the heady rush of first love and the obsessive fixation on one person to the exclusion of all else, Dreams will strike chords.” – David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
Oslo Stories Trilogy: Love
“Once one surrenders to the gentle rhythms of Jense Christian Fodstad’s editing, to the frankness with which Haugerud’s characters approach life and which he approaches the material, the film is utterly enrapturing.” – Pat Brown, Slant Magazine
“There’s a loveliness to every scene, quiet urban beauty that leaves space for the audience’s contemplation.” – Alissa Wilkinson, The New York Times
“This breezy, sexy, thoughtful film shows that straying from the rom-com ideal can be easier than it sounds, and a bit of fun too.” – Guy Lodge, Variety
Oslo Stories Trilogy: Sex
“Sex is a compelling exploration of ordinary men trying to figure out who they are permitted to be, how they are evolving and what their lives are all about.” – Allan Hunter, Screen Daily
“A tender and gently probing Norwegian drama… A far cry from the prurient spectacle promised by its title.” – David Ehrlich, Indiewire
“The remarkable aspect of Haugerud’s trilogy is the lively style he’s cultivated, whether expressed through Peder Capjon Kjellsby’s jazzy, synth-laden, piano-adorned score, or cinematographer Cecilie Semec’s zooms, pans, and productively frustrating cropped frames.” – Nirris Nagendrarajah, The Film Stage
The release of Oslo Stories Trilogy: Sex is supported by MEDIA
