Review: MILF of Norway, season 1

It was probably the inimitable Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus) who made MILF (Mother I’d Like to Fuck) a household word in her role as Stifler’s mother in the teen comedy American Pie (1999).

Suddenly, MILF became part of everyday popular culture – and to this day, it regularly tops the list of search terms on the world’s largest erotic website. Because who doesn’t fancy a mature, experienced and confident woman?

Exactly a year ago, it became clear that Warner Media/Discovery would scrap the HBO name in the US and then ‘merge’ Discovery+ with HBO Max to launch the more all-encompassing streaming service ‘Max’. Now the time has come for the European launch.

Not just with a new name, but also with a new focus. As of 21 May, HBO Max content has become part of the Warner Media and Discovery conglomerate, with all content coming together in Max. Read here about the extensive transformation and what it will mean for your subscription!

We don’t know if the programme managers of ‘newcomer’ Max had search engine optimisation and web algorithms in mind when they gave the green light to the new series MILF of Norway, but the title hardly hurts.

Max premiere day saw the launch of the first Nordic original series, and no, it’s (thankfully) not a cheesy new reality series, but a drama series with a humorous edge, from director Rune Langlo.

Mariann Hole (Half Brother, Wisting) and Trond Fausa Aurvåg (Lilyhammer, Oppenheimer) play the lead roles – and the talented veterans lift a somewhat half-baked script well above mediocrity.

As an average married couple in their mid-forties, both Lars (Fausa Aurvåg) and Lene (Hole) have experienced both ups and downs. There aren’t exactly erotic sparks between them anymore, and it certainly doesn’t help that Lene suddenly loses her job, giving her self-confidence a serious blow.

After an unexpected corporate takeover, Lene is suddenly made redundant in her top job at a medium-sized advertising agency. As both her finances and marriage crumble, she finds some solace and a confidence boost in the social media platform ‘InsideFans’ (a local version of OnlyFans).

Almost by accident, Lene realises to her surprise that there is a large (and paying!) audience out there who would love to get a peek under the skirt of a mature woman. And her niche is to dress (or should we say undress?) in that most Norwegian of Norwegian things: the national costume bunad.

At first she’s hesitant, a little ashamed and insecure, but then the compliments – and the money – start pouring in, and when Lene comes into contact with influencer expert Emrik (Kim F. Jørgensen, Troll), she sheds her prejudices – and garments.

At the same time, she becomes increasingly isolated from her family, including her friendless teenage son, friends and social circle – while the fear (excitement?) of being discovered gnaws at her.

In style and tone, Lene’s character is very reminiscent of the free-spirited sassy Sofia (Ida Engvoll) in the drama comedy Love and Anarchy. Both are grown-up, self-actualising women with grit, drive, confidence, humour and a liberating self-irony. It’s Hole who carries the series, and with her comic timing, charm and down-to-earth approach to the character, she makes MILF of Norway a little charm bomb.

That said, there’s also a dose of wet gunpowder in that ‘bomb’. The fact that anyone can create their own personal website and make money from online porn is topical, and the angle of bunad erotica as a niche is both original and funny. But there are parts of the script that simply don’t connect.

Lene losing her job overnight is one thing, but having only €4 in her bank account after barely a week is unlikely, nor is it likely that a strange online pusher could so easily persuade her to take more and more scantily clad photos.

Fausa Aurvåg is (and that’s a compliment!) the ultimate ‘’guy next door‘’, who in his very average sweater and well-combed hair is as boring and ordinary as we expect. But his awkward advances towards his fellow lawyer 20 years his junior are unbelievable, and why on earth the scriptwriters chose to spend so much time on this completely uninteresting, scorned hip-hopper client is beyond our comprehension.

The slightly awkward pair of friends come in as a comical sidekick, but are a little too caricatured. We would have much preferred to see more of Lene and her transformation from an ordinary, slightly boring, mid-life woman next door to a voluptuous, scantily clad MILF temptress. Unfortunately, the thread where she livestreams undressed is never quite followed up, but perhaps we’ll see more of that in a (possible) season 2?

MILF of Norway is by no means a groundbreaking series, but it bodes well for Max’s local ventures, which are now back on track with distinctive Nordic original content. Aside from some annoying script shortcuts and some overcaricatured characters and storylines, you’ll be charmingly seduced by this very folksy MILF. 4 slightly weak stars.

The series consists of 8 episodes with weekly Friday premieres. The review is based on all 8 episodes.