"World-class", "uninhibited" and "naked" – that's how the new season of "Threesome" is described, praised not least for its authentic sex scenes.
I wanted to portray sex and sexuality in a way that hasn't been seen before, says director Lisa Linnertorp.
In the new season on SVT Play, the plot revolves around the male character David.
It was a challenge to switch bodies and perspectives, but extremely exciting. It was also great to portray and explore male friendship, says Linnertorp.
"Threesome" has been praised by critics for being realistic and for letting viewers get close to the characters and the story. Especially the sex scenes have received a lot of attention.
I'm so proud of those scenes, but they were a nut to crack. I wanted to have the same intimacy there as in the rest of the story.
To succeed, it required extensive work that involved everything from describing the scenes in minute detail in the script, to using intimacy coordinators and having "intimacy rehearsals" where the scenes were rehearsed step by step in slow tempo.
"You sense the male gaze"
Linnertorp didn't find many references in popular culture to use as inspiration, she says.
Often you can be very close in a story, but when the sex scenes come, there's suddenly a distance. It's in half-shadow or silhouette, or they have clothes on. It just doesn't work.
The film "Blue Is the Warmest Color", whose long and explicit sex scenes sparked controversy in 2013, was a clear example of how she didn't want to portray sex in the series.
It also gets very close, but I felt that it's something that bothers. You sense the male gaze a lot, she says and continues:
It was also extremely important for me that it never felt like porn, even though it's so graphic and close.
"Puritanical hypocrisy"
Sex and nudity on film and TV have long been debated, not least after #MeToo, but Linnertorp believes that more realistic portrayals of sex and intimacy are needed.
I see no problem with it if you do it in a way that's justified and decent. It was extremely important for me to tell about female sexuality, desire, and lust, and to do it with my gaze, she says and means that there's "a puritanical hypocrisy" in the debate.
We have no problem with portraying violence and sexual violence extremely graphically, but sex that occurs with consent is very uncomfortable. It's completely unreasonable to me, that's why I felt I had to do it, she says.
"Threesome" is about Siri and David who have been a couple for seven years, but end up in a crisis after a threesome with French student Camille. The first season revolves around Siri, and in the second season, the viewers follow David.
The first season of the drama series was released on Viaplay in the fall of 2021. It quickly gained a lot of attention and was praised for being realistic, in everything from dialogue to sex scenes. Last fall, SVT began discussions with the struggling streaming service about taking over the series. On June 26, the first season was released on SVT Play, and on July 3, season two premiered.
