Viaplay To Explore The Meaning Of Life

Viaplay has announced The Meaning Of Life (Meningen med livet), an eight-part comedy drama starring Celie Sparre (The Truth Will Out) and Helena af Sandeberg (Dough) about the complex balance between family life, self-fulfillment and social pressures.

Alva (Celie Sparre) wants nothing more than to become a parent together with boyfriend Nico (Hannes Fohlin), but it’s just not happening. Meanwhile, her sister Ellen (Helena af Sandeberg) has three children with husband Alex (Ulf Stenberg) and dearly wishes she hadn’t.

The series creators used their own lives as a starting point for the drama. Maria Nygren is a busy mother of three who struggles to keep everything together, while Tove Eriksen Hillblom has long battled with IVF and questions about her infertility. The Meaning of life deals with the complexity of femininity, with ambivalence inthe role of mother and what happens to a woman’s self-esteem if she is infertile.

Maria Nygren and Tove Eriksen Hillblom said: “The purpose of life, at least according to society, is to have children. Then you are done. Or is it still up to the individual to define oneself and what is the point of it all? This series has evolved into something that contains several layers of universal problems such as the need to find a place in life, the desire to fit in and the will to be successful.”

Viaplay Chief Content Officer, Filippa Wallestam, added: “Our latest Viaplay Original is based on its creators’ personal experiences. It handles sensitive questions with a deft touch and portrays characters who will be instantly recognisable for many viewers. The Meaning of Life is warm, difficult, humorous and unpredictable – just like relationships themselves.”

The Meaning Of Life, directed by Eddie Åhgren, is currently filming in Stockholm and will premiere on Viaplay across the Nordic region in Autumn 2022.