Off Track 2’s ending is certainly a happy one, but it does cap off a film that I found entirely unnecessary. The film follows the story of Lisa, 3 whole years after we saw her get her life back together and become the role model her daughter Elvira deserved. But now that she’s got the perfect life, Lisa finds herself confused, a little bit under pressure, and stressed out, because it’s all just too perfect. So what does a person like Lisa do in this situation? They end up ruining everything by cracking. In Off Track 2, Lisa is doing a cycling course in the summer with her brother, called the Vatternrundan cycling race. It’s been 3 years since Lisa quit drinking, stopped messing things up for her daughter, and has been with her boyfriend, Anders, the police officer who put her in jail all the way in the beginning of Off Track. The film begins with Anders and Lisa viewing a house together, and then Anders proposes because he’s ready to start a new life with Lisa; however, when Anders makes the proposal, she pukes on him and sends him tumbling straight into the pool. This should’ve been a clear indication of how stressed she is, but instead, after they’re both cleaned up, she says yes. Will Lisa be able to bring her life back on track again, or will she go back to her old ways? Let’s find out.
Spoiler Alert
Why Does Anders Leave Lisa?
Soon after the proposal, Lisa meets one of her old friends at a party. She was also the realtor and told her she’d invite her because a bunch of their old circle are hanging out. At this party, Lisa meets her ex, Calle, a dashing man with a drug problem. Well, at least Daniel calls him Cocaine Calle later on in the film. Anyway, we immediately know that Calle’s trouble, but Lisa seems to be tempted to hang out with him, only because she hears the sound of Anders’ female colleague laughing at him, while he’s on the phone with Lisa. Anyway, Calle loses a bet at the party, which means he has to participate in the race with Lisa, but she thinks it’s a joke. However, soon she gets a text from Calle claiming he’s going to do the race with her, even buying his own equipment.
However, all of Lisa’s plans come to a standstill when she gets in a car accident and breaks two of her ribs. Anders tells her they can go on vacation instead, on race weekend, and makes all the plans. But when Calle tells Lisa that all she needs to do is take some spin classes and she’ll be ready to do the race again, she actually considers it, even though the doctors have clearly said she needs 6 weeks’ rest. Lisa tells Anders that she wants to take up the challenge because she feels like she’s going back to her old Lisa ways if she simply gives up. Anders believes her, but Lisa’s lying because she’s only agreed to get back to it because she gets to spend time with Calle.
Soon Lisa and Calle get texting, and Anders notices that she’s hiding her phone while texting and acting a bit strange. So one fine day, he ends up checking her phone because it won’t stop pinging. He finds many flirty texts between Lisa and Calle, making him think she’s cheating on him. While Lisa’s not actually cheating, there’s some sort of emotional adultery going on. Anders decides to break up with her in that moment without listening to a word she has to say. He goes as far as saying she’s going to go back to drinking and sleeping around, and instead of feeling bad about what he’s said, she feels like a terrible person for hurting him. But the man just tore her down because he thought she cheated on him without letting her explain herself. What?
What’s Happening With Daniel And Klara?
It was pretty strange when Daniel and Klara suddenly became okay as soon as Klara found out she was pregnant. Clearly, Daniel didn’t actually want kids; he was just eager to be the adventure man that he is. So it makes sense that they’re still not perfect even after having a daughter of their own named Vera. They’re going to therapy, and the therapist tells them that if they do a project together, their bond might strengthen. She suggests they try to do the cycling race together, because it’s something Daniel is huge on. But this comes in the way of Daniel’s plans, because he wants to be in the group of people who finish the race faster than the “regular” gang, but if Klara has to start training now, she won’t be able to make it.
The problem with Daniel is that he doesn’t know how to make sacrifices, and so even if Klara is agreeing to do this thing that he loves so very much, and it’s a compromise on her end, he thinks he’s the one sacrificing the race for her. So even when he’s making dinners for her and scheduling practice routines, he’s doing it so that she can match up to his speed rather than to make her feel good about them. I think Klara’s right to ask for a divorce, but instead of separating, Daniel tries to hold on to Klara, and she ends up doing the race anyway. But to make things more complicated, they leave their daughter with Daniel’s dad, whom Klara doesn’t trust. During the race, Daniel’s dad calls him and tells him that they’re going to meet them in a small town on the course. This makes Klara panic, and she bikes super fast to get there. However, on the way, Daniel and she have a massive fight because he’s demanding and too focused on doing things right rather than letting her have fun and learn how to do things herself. So they decide to get divorced right there on the course, and Daniel leaves Klara in the middle of nowhere.
Klara then meets a man who is too old to be doing this race but continues to do it every year. He tells her that she shouldn’t give up after making it this far, and that no matter how bad she feels in that moment, tomorrow will look better. I think Klara’s meant to take this advice about her marriage, too, but honestly, it’s Daniel that needs to fix himself, not Klara. Anyway, Klara gets back on the course, and Daniel’s friends tell him that he should not mess this up, so he turns around and goes back to find her. In the meantime, Grandpa loses Vera and can’t find her anywhere, but he gets the cops to help and learns that she was at a park nearby. He takes her to the end of the course to see her parents. I’m honestly a little bit confused about this part of the story, but we love Gunnar. Finally, the family is reunited when the husband and wife complete the race, with Daniel helping Klara by placing his hand on her back. Guess everything’s fixed.
Do Lisa and Anders Get Back Together?
On the other hand, Calle talks Lisa into skinny dipping, and Anders’ colleague drives him to the race so that he can win Lisa back. He ends up seeing them in the lake together, so he doesn’t talk to her. A little while later, Calle drags her to a party at the race, and she goes along with him but doesn’t take any drugs. She also realizes she can’t do the race anymore because she’s in too much pain. Elvira calls her and tells her that she’s proud of her and that it’s okay if she can’t finish the race, which makes her realize what a fool she’s been. At the same time, Anders shows up to test people for drugs, and suddenly he’s driving her back home with his colleague.
When they get to Lisa’s, Anders asks Lisa if she has slept with Calle recently. She says she hasn’t. He walks away, but he comes back because he’s still in love with her. This is when she tells him that she was afraid that he’d leave her, so she acted out and started hanging with Calle (what even). Guess Calle was just a diversion from her stressful future perfect life. This apology somehow works on Anders, and he decides to take Lisa back.
In Off Track 2’s ending, Lisa and Anders are at the midsummer festival, but she’s invited a pastor to officiate their wedding right there. This way Lisa doesn’t feel the pressure of a big wedding and all the scary stuff, but Anders also gets what he wants. They’re married right there and will probably live happily ever after (with a lot of fights), but hey, they’ve got a home and a beautiful daughter, so everything will be okay. The film doesn’t focus on Lisa getting her life back together; instead, it shows her actually going off track, so I suppose the title of the film makes a little bit more sense with this one, eh?
