Vanguard: A New Swedish Drama That Injects More Emotion Into Wolf Of Wall Street

Courtesy of Viaplay Content Distribution

While Vanguard spins quite the different take on Leonardo Dicaprio’s white collar caper of 2012, Jakob Oftebro’s performance as one of Sweden's wealthiest people takes the complex rich man persona to new heights.

It has admittedly been some time since I last stepped back into the world of Viaplay. For those that could use an introduction, Viaplay is an massively underrated Nordic and European streaming service which US viewers could find through Prime Video, Roku, Sling and other channels. Three years ago, I looked at Hilma - a two hour dramatization into Hilma af Klint, a groundbreaking Swedish artist. I’ve had my eye on the platform ever since. With the utmost confidence, I can say that Vanguard will become your gateway drug into this wonderful digital space.

I also want to preface all of this by saying that I knew nothing about the real-life Jan Stenbeck or the many accolades he acquired before watching Vanguard - such as him taking the reins of Sweden’s telephone game or creating (and curating) TV3. Blindly stepping into such an episodic run of a visionary like this could have very well been disastrous, but it was quite the opposite.

Scriptwriters Alex Haridi, Lotta Erikson, Helene Lindholm brilliantly spliced each of the five entries of Vanguard into eras, which then highlighted the most dramatic moments of Stenbeck’s life (whether good or bad). The show starts when Stenbeck is in his mid 30s - working for Morgan Stanley and just about to meet Merrill MacLeod, who would end up becoming his wife for twenty three years.

There’s no question about Oftebro’s handling of the role. While the script for the first three episodes (which go through some of his family’s crises and the phone company - Millicom’s- rise) is a sort of exhibition for the Norwegian actor, he puts on a solid masterclass with the aging form of Stenbeck in the latter two episodes. As his rich man path becomes an ever more lonely one, Oftebro seduces the audience with his emotional range. Speaking of emotion, this is where Vanguard strays from the path that Wolf of Wall Street’s career rise type of movie laid out.

In place of juvenile dwarf throwing, drug snorting and all sorts of raunchy madness, this mini-series mainly rips away all those antics for a more intimate look at how money molds a man. With all the ruminations of power starting to surround a once humble Stenbeck - through his companies, loyal-to-the-bone employees and massive amounts of monetary wealth - life starts to equally take away what was once most important to him.

These heavy and daunting familial scenes only grow greater in emphasis from the actors and actresses placed in these foil roles. Zoe Boyle plays Merrill (noted above), Malin Crépin and Irene Lindh step into the shoes of Margaretha and Märtha, the media pioneer’s sisters, as well as Nils Wetterholm playing Marcus (one of Stenbeck’s associates). While they all hold satisfactory performances, their crucial roles all help in displaying the roller-coaster arc of the main character. Wetterholm’s sequence is arguably the most intense as it shows Stenbeck desperately reaching for what could be his last straw of adrenaline - by mercilessly putting one of his own through the ringer.

When all is said and done, Vanguard can be quite a tame story - but this same aspect also proves something remarkable. There’s just no need for shock value when dedication to the role and commitment to the character comes through. I’m not saying that Vanguard doesn’t have moments of over-the-top celebration but this new Viaplay series certainly keeps those aspects low-key in order to magnify the professional rise and saddening, personal fall of one Jane Stenbeck. The ending is the most important - as it certainly doesn’t bow to a sealed fate for our main character, but instead exemplifies a bittersweet wish finally granted.

I will give Vanguard a 4 out of 5.