‘Diary of a Ditched Girl’ (2025) Netflix Series Review - Love Me Please

You don't often get to see characters like Amanda (Carla Sehn) on the screen. She is fascinating; she strips away the rose-tinted filter of "feminine conduct" from the eyes of men still clinging to adolescent notions. Amanda "falls in love" with almost any good-looking guy who smiles at her or says something as simple as "Hello"—or even just asks if the trash can is full. Here is a woman who feels warm when a creep opens his zip and takes out his dick. She is sexually and romantically starved, clinging to the hope that a boy might fill the void gnawing at her insides. Usually, characters this desperate are men, inserted purely for comedic effect. Diary of a Ditched Girl/Halva Malmö består av killar som dumpat mig, however, doesn't pull any punches (at least not at first). It frames Amanda's neediness as an illness. Watching her is unsettling; she makes you queasy. This level of discomfort is generated by Sehn through her excellent performance that almost breaks the screen. Sehn strips herself naked, both physically and emotionally. She renders Amanda unstable and sometimes nearly unhinged. It's uncomfortable to watch, yet her plight still stirs a quiet sense of pity. Mostly, though, you are left feeling annoyed. That's because Amanda suffers from Main Character Energy — she thinks of herself as the protagonist of a sweet romantic comedy.
 

Such dreamy perceptions give rise to unrealistic expectations, and when those expectations aren't met, Amanda panics. She wails, she complains, she breaks into a million pieces, hoping her sister, Adina (Moah Madsen), will help her, console her, and motivate her to stand on her own two feet. Amanda and Adina are not just sisters, but also colleagues. Monika (Ingela Olsson), their mother, is busy dating a man who doesn't seem too interested in their relationship, while Rikard (Torkel Petersson), their father, spends most of his time with his new family. Naturally, the sisters depend on each other for care and support, but the words of encouragement almost always flow in one stifling direction. It's Adina who consistently acts as the pillar of strength, while Amanda spends most of her time unloading her problems onto friends and family. As far as Amanda is concerned, her sister has no real difficulties, merely because she has a boyfriend (Isac Calmroth). This only reveals how much Amanda has prioritized the concept of "the other half" — a soulmate stitched together from desire and dreams. One can imagine her, as a child, being inspired by clichés of romantic comedy. Is that why, as a schoolgirl, she once tried to kiss a boy? Diary of a Ditched Girl can be seen as a critique of romantic female leads — women so preoccupied with finding a suitable partner that they overlook the struggles of their friends and family. Adina suffers from OCD, which worsens as a result of one of Amanda's actions. Of course, Amanda didn't intend to make Adina's condition worse, but the Great Romantic Lead is so busy having fun that she ignores the broader consequences of her decisions.

Amanda devotes so much effort and energy to undeserving men that she goes as far as altering her personality and taste to appeal to them. The character — and the actor playing her — bring a wild, unstable force to the show that initially sucks you in. But even that, over the course of seven episodes, begins to wear thin. By the time the series ends, you realize it has little to offer beyond Sehn's acting. Diary of a Ditched Girl recycles the eye-rolling, head-shaking cliché of the evil stepmom, and the whole Amanda-Emil (Johannes Lindkvist) on-and-off relationship feels thoroughly unconvincing. What does Emil even think of Amanda after she distances herself from him (albeit temporarily) due to one of her mood swings triggered by exaggerated reasoning? Why does he love her so strongly? Does he feel guilty for punishing her as a child when she tried to kiss him? Emil is nothing more than that guy whose role is to signal to the audience that he's "the right one" for the heroine. Beyond that, he has no presence, no personality. Moreover, Amanda and Adina talk about money problems and occasionally refer to themselves as "poor," but we never actually see how they manage their day-to-day lives while dealing with financial hardship. At one point, Amanda enters a supermarket and puts items in her cart without the slightest concern about money. What one can conclude is that this pecuniary disadvantage exists merely to add a superficial sense of tension between the characters. Diary of a Ditched Girl is ultimately thin and underwhelming. It makes you fall in love with it, only to break up with you eventually. Your relationship with the show mirrors the one between Amanda and Emil: extremely volatile.

Final Score- [4/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times