Erik Ponti (Andreas Wilson) time and again received his stepfather's after-meal torture when was considered having made any mistake. He was considered a bad kid, and he was labeled as pure evil (ondskan in Swedish) by the headmaster who flunked him out of school. His mother sold some of her valuables to send Erik to a boarding school where he met a new friend Pierre Tanguy (Henrik Lundstrom). In that school, students governed the school, and more senior students often punished more junior students with cruelty. Erik did not want to listen to the senior students led by Otto Silverhielm (Gustaf Skarsgard), but did not want to start any trouble, either. Otto's gang kept on pressuring Erik, and Erik eventually fought back to defend himself and his friend Pierre.

The film is one of the nominees of the Best Foreign Film category of Oscar. In my mind, it does deserve the nomination. The story vividly depicts the cruelty of adolescent towards their peers in the downward spiral of oppression from one generation of students to another. However, I admire the story where Erik's behavior changed after he entered the boarding school. It was righteous and fearless. He totally turned himself into a fine young man while recognizing the love from her mother. One would question how would Erik's change in behavior possible when he was considered evil in his original school. I think the reason lies in his stepfather's maltreating him. Like what is talked about in "Rebel without a Cause", good kids are a result of good parenting.

In sum, the film is good in both artistic value and entertainment value.