Ingmar Bergman’s delightful sophomore feature. Barbro Kollberg and Birger Malmsten play two lonely young strangers who sleep together, feel a connection, and strive to build a life together. Bergman’s decision to have his omniscient narrator—known only as “Man with umbrella”—appear as a character in the story lends a whimsical hue. It presents a biting exposé of the hypocrisy in contemporary Swedish society but never feels cynical. The courtroom finale had me cackling with glee.

The film’s lone blemish comes from Malmsten’s frequent monologues bemoaning society. Delivered while gazing into space, it’s the script talking to the audience, versus Malmsten talking to another character. This exposition proves redundant—as though Bergman wasn’t yet confident in his abilities to show versus tell.