General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Tore

Tore is a Swedish comedy-drama television series created, written by, and starring William Spetz, released globally on Netflix on October 27, 2023.¹ The six-episode series follows a 27-year-old funeral-home assistant who suppresses his grief after his father's death and escapes into Stockholm's queer nightlife.¹ Netflix describes it as a "feel-good-and-bad dramedy about running away from all the things that hurt while trying to figure out who you are."¹

Key fact	Detail
Format	Six-episode Swedish dramedy, average runtime about 32 minutes, rated TV-MA¹^•²
Premiere	October 27, 2023, globally on Netflix; all six episodes released the same day¹^•³
Creator and star	William Spetz, who also plays the title role; directed by Erika Calmeyer¹
Production company	B-Reel Films; producer Anna-Klara Carlsten¹
Setting	Stockholm and its suburbs⁴
Recognition	Nominated for a 2024 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding New Series⁵
Reception	81% average Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes; 6.9/10 on IMDb⁶^•⁷

Spoilers

Premise

When 27-year-old Tore loses the most important person in his life, his father Bosse, in a garbage truck accident, he does everything he can to suppress his grief.¹ During the day he continues working at his father's funeral home, Årsta Funeral Home, as if nothing has happened, and begins flirting with Erik, the new florist.¹^•⁴ After dark, he takes up a spot aboard a party boat in the city, where he tries alcohol, sex, and drugs for the first time.¹

Netflix Tudum describes Tore as a late bloomer who spirals into self-destruction to cope, jeopardizing his friendships and livelihood, but who finds light in a friendship with the florist Erik and with a drag performer known as Shady Meat.⁴ His best friend Linn and the funeral home colleagues grow worried that he is losing his footing in his attempts to escape reality.¹ The series is not based on a book or a true story.⁴

Cast and characters

William Spetz as Tore, an assistant at Årsta Funeral Home⁴
Sanna Sundqvist as Linn, Tore's best friend⁴
Peter Haber as Bosse, Tore's father and owner of the funeral home⁴
Hannes Fohlin as Erik, a florist⁴
Victor Iván as Viggo, a man Tore meets at a gay club⁴
Carlos Romero Cruz as Shady Meat, a drag performer at Tore's local club⁴
Karin Bertling as Heidi, a client of the funeral home who has just lost her husband⁴
Lotta Tejle as Ulla and Per Svensson as Per, employees at Årsta⁴
Doreen Ndagire as Lo, Tore's friend¹

Episodes

All six episodes were released on October 27, 2023.¹ The first episode, "Something New Will Do You Good," introduces Tore's annoyance at his father's push for him to move out, before a fatal collision changes his life.¹³ Later episodes include "If They Wear Watches, They're Straight," in which Tore tries to approach Erik while Shady Meat shows him how to navigate a new environment, and "To Speak or to Die," in which an unexpected guest at the funeral home worsens his erratic behavior.¹³ The finale, "Hjem," aired October 27, 2023, with a new friend's indiscretion getting Tore in trouble before he stops in Uppsala on a journey to redeem himself.²

Production

William Spetz created and wrote the series and plays the title role; Erika Calmeyer directed all six episodes.¹ The production company was B-Reel Films, with Anna-Klara Carlsten producing, Karl-Erik Brøndbo as director of photography, Sara Wiklund as production designer, Emelie Henriksson as costume designer, and Erika Nicklasson as make-up designer.¹ Spetz had previously starred in Netflix's first Swedish original series, Quicksand, and began his career at 15 posting comedic videos on YouTube.⁵

In a 1202 Magazine interview, Spetz said the series touches on grief, family, LGBTQIA+ identity, mental health, and community, and that every character, scene, and story is fictional, which he found more manageable than portraying someone actually like himself.⁸

Reception

The series holds an average Tomatometer of 81% on Rotten Tomatoes.⁶ On the Swedish review aggregator Kritiker, season 1 scored 3.3 out of 5 across critics, with Cinetaste giving 5/5, Filmtopp and Sydsvenskan 4/5, Aftonbladet 3/5, and Barometern and Borås Tidning 2/5.⁹ Aftonbladet's reviewer Karolina Fjellborg called it "fine but expected tragicomedy," rating it 3 of 5 and describing the core of Spetz's anxiety-humor series as a person who would rather not have to deal with life, whether growing up, exploring his sexuality, or handling grief, but ultimately must.¹⁰

In El País, Ángel S. Harguindey wrote that the series is essentially about the difficulties, real or imagined, of personal relationships, with sex, drugs, and disco music abounding against a dramatic background.¹¹ In an academic treatment of queer grieving, Antu Sorainen, Associate Professor of Gender Studies at the University of Helsinki, placed Tore alongside Good Grief as a Netflix series that engages mass audiences with the complexities of attachment to a lost love object, noting that Tore addresses grief through a post-queer, destructive path that ends relatively well.¹²

The show was nominated for a 2024 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding New Series, and Spetz received favorable reviews for his performance.⁵

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Drama and prestige series (individual series) › Family and relationship drama › Family and domestic drama › Family sagas and household dramas

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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