American CIA Field Operative, Johnnie Allen, is assigned to Denmark for his first mission. An American spy highly placed in the Kremlin is to be spirited out of Russia, and it is Johnnie's job to get him safely to Antwerp where the agent will board a freighter. Johnnie, who is a young gay man, meets and falls in love with a Danish lad named Sander, who is apparently straight. Wanting to keep his friend close to him, he makes the mistake of bringing him on the mission. What will become of their friendship if Johnnie confesses his love to Sander? And is the Russian agent all he seems to be? Set against a backdrop of European espionage, Happy Endings Sleepover is a celebration of gay youth in a world where love should never be Top-Secret.
The tone of the movie is a lighthearted spy adventure/young gay romance. The characters are all interesting and likeable, aside from the bad guys. There are challenges to overcome in both the adventure and romance portions of the story with both happy and dramatic moments. The story is told in short chapters and keeps moving. I enjoyed it very much.
Spoilers follow: American Johnnie moves to Denmark for a job with the CIA. He moves into an apartment building with a variety of amusing characters. He meets Dane Sander and falls in love with him. Johnnie keeps this to himself as he believes Sander to be straight and because he is in the closet at his job lest he lose it. Johnnie goes on his first assignment to transport a Russian spy and Sander shows up to go along. Things go awry. It turns out Sander is gay and in love with Johnnie as well. The adventure part of the story continues and wraps up as Johnnie and Sander get to know each other more. Sander is very troubled and wishes to break off the romance due to Johnnie's unwillingness to introduce Sander to his homophobic mother and attempts at staying closeted. It turns out that Sander has a painful history which he has not shared with Johnnie that is the source of his feelings. The title gives you the manner in which the film ends.
This is based on a series of novels by a young danish author. In them the young men continue their adventures.
So a novice CIA agent - "Johnnie Allen" - is sent to that hotspot of international espionage - Denmark - on a mission to repatriate an American spy home from Russia. En route he falls for the dewy eyed Sander (Jonas Kyed - who bears a passing resemblance to "the Crown"s Matt Smith) and our adventure begins. It's nonsense, from start to finish - and if the CIA really were recruiting folks like this then Vladimir has nothing whatsoever to worry about. It has comedy moments - whether intended or not and the plot (?) keeps you wondering if it can get any sillier.