Simon, a mild-mannered middle-class student, arrives at law school only to find his modest dreams foiled at every turn by the wealthy elites that are his peers. As the inequality and hypocrisy of the academic system begin to eat away at him, he falls in love with Max, an anarchist revolutionary, who sweeps him up into a web of deception, crime, and class warfare.
An Honest Life, starring Simon Lööf and Nora Rios, is an adaption of Joakim Zander’s critically acclaimed novel of the same name. “A coming of age thriller set at a university felt like perfect cinematic material,” director Mikael Marcimain (Blackwater) tells Netflix. “It’s a gripping, anarchistic love story.”
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Simon (Lööf) heads to law school in Lund, Sweden, with the simple dream of making something of himself. Instead, when Simon arrives, he’s met with wealthy roommates who seem laser-focused on ruining his chances to succeed. From tricking Simon into serving a formal dinner to double-charging him for the smallest room in the house, his roommates — and the societal systems they abuse — chip away at Simon’s psyche, puncturing his ambitions and leaving him vulnerable. Enter Max (Rios), a beautiful anarchist, whom Simon saves from getting arrested for vandalizing a storefront. When he takes the brunt of a police officer’s beating for her, she goes out of her way to find him again.
Meeting Max and her radical cohorts draws Simon into dangerous territory; he now believes that if the system doesn’t work for him, he can simply choose to live outside of it as an outlaw. At first, his Robin Hood–esque crimes, like stealing luxury watches, are thrilling, and give his life new purpose. But when a night with Max’s crew turns violent, Simon must choose whether to walk the path of conformity or rebellion.
Yes, the series is based on the novel An Honest Life by Joakim Zander.
No, the series is based on a novel.
An Honest Life is set in Lund, Sweden.
