The Sisters

In February 2020, Jonas was awarded a prestigious writing fellowship at the New York Public Library, an opportunity he secured by proposing a novel inspired by the three Mikkola sisters. The fellowship required him and his family to move to New York by September. In order to obtain visas for Diane and their children, Jonas and Diane had to marry. 

The escalating COVID-19 pandemic forced them to cancel their wedding plans and instead get married at City Hall. As the pandemic worsened, their plans to move to New York became impossible due to visa freezes and library closures. That fall, grappling with his disappointment, Jonas began an obsessive search for Evelyn, contacting acquaintances across the US. His efforts yielded nothing, as no one had seen or heard of her. He reflects on his fixation with the “disappeared” sister, wondering if it’s a way to process the loss of his own half-sister.

While waiting for a very late Saskia at their hotel, Ina and Laura have drinks. Ina silently laments the superficiality of her friendship with the other two, knowing she can’t discuss her experiences of racism as a woman of color with them. After Saskia texts about a further delay due to a traffic accident, Ina and Laura proceed to dinner without her. 

At the table, Ina feels a growing irritation. When ordering drinks, Ina chooses wine by the glass, while Laura gets the full wine package. Ina immediately regrets her choice, fearing it will separate her from the others. Saskia finally arrives. When asked what she wants to drink, she joins Laura in ordering the wine package, confirming Ina’s fears.

For five years, Evelyn remains in New York, resisting her family’s efforts to bring her back to Sweden. She builds a life for herself, working 17 different jobs and moving between cheap apartments before settling in Bed-Stuy. For a time, she becomes absorbed in researching the iconic photograph of workers on a steel beam at Rockefeller Center at the public library, hoping to find her great-grandfather’s name and finish her creative project. This search proves fruitless, and in spring 2016, she stops going to the library, though she continues making notes and expanding her monologue. 

Years pass, and Anastasia informs Evelyn that Simon has married Cecilia. Evelyn remains resolute to stay, telling her sister that her only fear is not being able to return to the US if she were to leave.

After the dinner, Ina lies awake in her room, feeling disconnected from her friends and critical of Saskia’s aging and Laura’s contentment. Her troubled thoughts are interrupted by a text from her son, Primo, who urgently requests a large sum of money for a supposed opportunity with a music producer. Worried that the money might be for drugs or related to the dangerous, flashy lifestyle that Primo imitates online, Ina sends a screenshot of the message to Hector. She also recalls a recent incident where another young artist was kidnapped and humiliated, deepening her fear for her son’s safety. Despite the desperate tone of Primo’s message, Ina feels completely drained from the social effort of the weekend, puts her phone in airplane mode, and falls asleep.

During the 2020 pandemic lockdown in New York, Evelyn, who has lived there undocumented for seven years, contemplates returning to Sweden for the first time, fearing the US healthcare system. She then receives a strange email from a man from her childhood. He claims to be a writer and says he has devoted his life to understanding himself through her and her sisters, asking dozens of invasive questions about their family. 

When Evelyn doesn’t reply, he sends a second, more disturbing email a few days later. In it, he confesses to experiencing severe depression, suicidal ideation, financial ruin, and the torment of a critical inner voice he calls “the Hyena.” Evelyn is disgusted by the unsolicited and intense confession from a near-stranger and resolves that she has no reason to care about his problems.

Ina, Saskia, and Laura prepare for their camping trip but quickly realize that they have brought far too much equipment to carry up the mountain. Ina discovers that they can drive most of the way, so they pack the car and head to a parking lot near the summit. On the way up, Ina receives another message from Primo asking for money, claiming that Hector has refused him. She forwards the conversation to Hector, who replies that he will handle it. 

After a short hike from the car, the three women reach the mountaintop, which features a striking view and a steep precipice. As Saskia and Laura search for a place to hang their hammocks, Ina stands alone at the edge of the cliff. She has a vivid, morbid fantasy about falling to her death and imagines Evelyn delivering a eulogy that describes Ina as a constantly disappointed perfectionist who was difficult to be around. Laura interrupts Ina’s thoughts, and Ina steps back from the edge.

In mid-July, Evelyn receives an email from the writer, Jonas, who reveals that he will not be moving to New York. He confesses that he has severe depression and shares that the “Hyena” in his head is fueled by his father’s past emotional abuse. After experiencing a mental-health crisis during a doctor’s visit, he was diagnosed with depression and obsessive thoughts. Jonas chose to pursue cognitive-behavioral therapy and tells Evelyn that she’s the only person he felt he could tell. After thinking about him for months, Evelyn finally sends a short reply asking Jonas how he is.

Ina, Laura, and Saskia embark on a long hike. During their walk, Ina observes the close bond between Laura and Saskia and once again feels slightly excluded. 

On the way back up the mountain to establish their base camp, they notice a tourist couple also carrying camping gear. After the friends greet them, the couple begins following them up the trail. Ina experiences paranoia, believing that the couple is trying to race them to the prime campsite at the summit. She reaches the mountaintop first, exhausted but feeling victorious. The couple arrives minutes later, but they simply admire the view for a moment before turning around.

In the fall of 2020, Evelyn is working a remote sales job from her apartment. Fabricia contacts her, and they meet for a socially distanced coffee in Prospect Park. While walking, Evelyn reflects on New York City’s flaws and thinks of Sweden as home for the first time in years. They discuss how staying through the pandemic makes them authentic New Yorkers, though Fabricia has a proper visa while Evelyn has none. 

The real purpose of the meeting is revealed when Fabricia shows Evelyn social-media posts from Anastasia. Evelyn, who avoids social media, learns that Anastasia has become a devout Christian and is involved in restoring old church murals. She also sees a recent photo of her niece, Nina, who has grown significantly and strongly resembles Evelyn. Evelyn is unmoved by the news and accepts Fabricia’s spontaneous invitation to dinner.

Ina is distracted and anxious, unable to reach Primo. When her friends notice her distress, she admits that she’s worried about him. This triggers a series of memories illustrating Primo’s impulsive and unconventional nature, which has always been a source of concern for Ina. Ina tries to dismiss her friends’ concerns, but they refuse to let her handle her problems alone, urging her to confide in them and let them help.

Fabricia takes Evelyn to a dinner party hosted by a wealthy, young art-collecting couple, Katia and her husband, Manas. During dinner, Manas, who’s a doctor, notices a lump on Evelyn’s neck. He advises her to have it professionally checked as soon as possible. Fabricia interjects, revealing that Evelyn can’t see a doctor because she has been living undocumented for seven years. When questioned by the hosts, Evelyn explains that she came in 2013 and decided to stay because she didn’t want to go back home.

Ina reflects on Primo’s unlikely rise as a rapper. Initially seen as a joke, Primo persisted and developed a unique style that eventually earned him attention and fans, making Ina proud despite her earlier attempts to make him quit. 

When pressed, Ina confesses her deep fear that Primo is involved with a dangerous crowd. She explains the current situation involving Primo to her friends. As she worries, she receives a text message from Hector. Expecting reassurance, she instead reads the message, stands up, and declares to her friends that Primo has been taken. She rushes off toward her car.

While on a train journey through Europe with her ex-boyfriend and now-friend, Mathias, and her daughter with Åhdal, Nina, Anastasia reflects on her dissatisfaction with her advertising career, which culminated in a disastrous campaign involving dead butterflies. She feels that her work is meaningless compared to Mathias’s job as a mural conservator. 

The trio arrives in a small German town so that Anastasia can visit Daniela, whom she hasn’t seen in 17 years. Anastasia, visibly nervous, leads them to a construction site where Daniela works. Daniela emerges from a tunnel, and the two women run to each other, sharing a long, emotional embrace and kiss. Mathias is moved to tears of happiness for Anastasia, who finally begins to cry herself.

Evelyn’s health worsens as she procrastinates seeking medical care. Over many months, the lump on her neck grows to the size of a golf ball, forcing her to tilt her head constantly. After her boss pressures her about it, she quits her café job and faces a precarious financial future but still takes no action. She then receives a long email from Jonas after nearly a year of silence.

Jonas details his successful therapy for the “Hyena” before launching into a lengthy, harrowing account of his father’s return to Sweden. His father is experiencing severe physical ailments, dementia, and paranoid hallucinations. After a series of crises, Jonas and his brothers have managed to place him in a care facility. Jonas concludes the email by offering to find the address of Evelyn’s aunt in the US. Overwhelmed and annoyed by his self-absorption, Evelyn firmly rejects the idea of seeking out her aunt. She deletes the email.

Ina, Laura, and Saskia abandon their camping trip and race north in Laura’s car. While Laura drives at incredible speeds, Saskia uses her journalistic skills to investigate Primo’s whereabouts. She discovers that Primo is supposed to be at a rented studio for a meeting with an American producer. 

After getting the address, they arrive after midnight at a high-rise building in a suburb south of the city. In the parking lot, they’re confronted by men in a car who appear to be lookouts. When Ina says that she’s there for her son, the men laugh. However, they then receive a brief phone call and grant her permission to enter. Realizing the danger they’re in, the three unarmed friends take an elevator down to the basement studio.

In the fall of 2021, Evelyn receives a buzz at her apartment. The visitor is a man with a Swedish accent who identifies himself as Jonas. After a moment of hesitation, she lets him in. Jonas enters her apartment but remains standing, explaining his presence by claiming that he happened to be in the area.

Primo is in a basement recording studio with a famous American producer when Ina arrives with Laura and Saskia, believing he has been taken. Ina confronts the men in the room, viewing them as criminals. Primo’s manager, Trevor, blocks their exit, demanding payment for the studio time before Primo can leave. In the tense standoff, Laura attempts a flying karate kick on Trevor, who easily sidesteps the attack and slaps her, though he catches her before she hits the ground. Primo escorts the women out and firmly tells his mother that he doesn’t need to be rescued. He condescendingly pats her cheek before returning to his recording session. Laura drives a defeated Ina home, who reflects that while the trip was a mistake, it may have given her a necessary realization.

Evelyn spends three hours with Jonas, recounting her family’s history of constant moves, her parents’ deaths, and her sisters’ lives. Jonas reveals his lifelong fascination with her family, citing tenuous connections between their lives, but Evelyn privately doubts his memories and suspects that he has turned her and her sisters into imaginary figures. 

She tells him about the massive, unfinished monologue she has been writing for eight years; her working title is The Sisters. Jonas then shares the theory that Evelyn’s father was unable to have children and that his own father might be the biological parent of one of the sisters. Evelyn dismisses this but laments how the family curse dominates her thoughts. Jonas tries to help by showing her a bizarre therapeutic video he made with stuffed animals to help her break the curse. Disturbed, Evelyn asks him to leave. 

As he departs, Jonas reveals that Ina has moved in with Anastasia. The news leaves Evelyn shocked.

Upon returning home alone at 2:30 in the morning, Ina discovers evidence of a visitor. Hector comes downstairs in a bathrobe and tries to explain. Before he can, a woman named Klara also comes downstairs. In silence, Klara puts on her shoes, takes her coat, and leaves the apartment, confirming Hector’s infidelity.

In January 2022, Evelyn and Jonas travel by train upstate to find her aunt and break the family curse. On the train, Jonas shows her a manuscript for a novel he’s writing about her life. Evelyn is critical of the work, pointing out inaccuracies and how he fictionalized events, and she demands that he use her real name. 

They disembark at Beacon and take a taxi to the aunt’s address. Evelyn insists on going inside alone. Jonas waits outside for hours as it gets dark. Evelyn eventually emerges and refuses to say what happened, promising to tell him after she has spoken with her sisters. After they part ways at Grand Central, Evelyn disappears. The next time Jonas goes to her apartment, a caretaker informs him that Evelyn has abandoned it, leaving behind all her furniture and two starving cats, which the writer decides to adopt.

Anastasia, Evelyn, and Ina reunite in a hospital room after nine years apart, each dealing with major life changes. Evelyn, who has just returned from New York, is awaiting the results of a biopsy on a lump in her neck. As the wait for the doctor stretches on, the sisters’ anxiety mounts, and they fear the family curse. The doctor reveals that the lump is a benign cyst and that she will be fine. Anastasia and Ina react with ecstatic relief, but as they celebrate, Evelyn privately wonders if she made a mistake by coming home.

A family matriarch lies dying in a hospice, a process that has stretched on for months with multiple false alarms. During what appears to be the final gathering, the woman awakens with sudden clarity. She gathers her family and, while looking at her youngest grandchild, Mona, tells a story they have never heard before. She reveals that years ago, her niece Evelyn visited to ask her to remove a curse that she had placed on her sister out of jealousy. The woman performed a ritual and asked forgiveness, but she never told Evelyn that no real curse had ever existed. 

Hours pass, and the family members eventually leave her bedside for various errands. Only Mona remains, telling her grandmother that it’s okay to let go. While the rest of the family is gone, the woman dies.