Sweden’s Plattform Produktion, the outfit behind Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winners “Triangle of Sadness” and “The Square,” has entered a co-production partnership with Norway’s Motlys on psychological thriller series “A Phone Rings in the Middle of the Night” (“En Telefon Ringer Mitt i Natten”).
Marking Plattform’s step into TV fiction for the first time, the four-part project has been selected for the Berlin Co-Production Market’s Co-Pro Series and will be pitched on Feb. 17 in front of commissioning editors, distributors and series financiers scouting for early, export-facing drama.
Created and directed by Plattform partner Mikel Cee Karlsson, “A Phone Rings in the Middle of the Night” is in advanced development, backed by Swedish Television and supported by regional fund Film i Väst. Additional development backing comes from the Swedish Film Institute and MEDIA Development.
Popular on Variety
As previously announced, Henrik Dorsin (“Triangle of Sadness,” “Solsidan”) and Shanti Roney (“Nymphomaniac,” “Together”), two of Sweden’s most well-renowned actors, are also attached to the project.
Producers are Erik Hemmendorff, Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck.
The story kicks on a summer night in a small Swedish town. Mats — a well-liked middle-aged dance band drummer — wakes to an anonymous text message: “You fat, disgusting pig!” What first reads like random abuse escalates into a relentless campaign of terror against Mats and his family, as the situation begins to uncover a dark, multi-layered story rooted more than 40 years earlier.
“Inspired by real events, I set out to create a different kind of revenge drama,” writer-director Karlsson said. “Told in four parts and through shifting perspectives — victim and perpetrator, past and present. At its core is a provocative question: Can revenge ever be justified — and ultimately, who owns the truth in the end?”
For Plattform, the series extends a company profile built on distinctive authorship and international launch positioning. Beyond Östlund, the slate includes Ninja Thyberg’s “Pleasure” and the Berlin and Sundance-winning “Fantastic Machine,” directed by Danielson and Van Aertryck.
Motlys brings Norwegian co-production capacity and a track record of filmmaker-driven storytelling with global reach. Its credits includes drama series “Home Ground” and features such as Berlin Golden Bear winner “Dreams,” “Thelma,” “Louder Than Bombs,” “Blind,” “Oslo, August 31st,” and “Welcome to Norway.”
