Netflix’s new Swedish romantic dramedy Diary of a Ditched Girl, adapted from Amanda Romare’s novel Halva Malmö består av killar som dumpat mig, follows a thirtysomething woman who throws caution to the wind during a summer of dating. A review in Decider recommended the series as worth streaming, calling attention to the lead performance and the show’s blend of sex, humor and awkwardness.
The series centers on Amanda (Carla Sehn), a woman who has spent much of the last decade focused on an event-planning business she runs with her mother Monika (Ingela Olsson) and sister Adina (Moah Madsen). After discovering she has not had sex in three years, Amanda resolves to reenter the dating world. Early episodes drop viewers into her attempts to flirt, hook up and pursue a meaningful relationship, beginning with a run-in in a Malmö park that sets the tone for the show’s mixture of comedy and embarrassment.
Amanda’s summer of dating includes encounters with several potential partners: Emil Wester (Johannes Lindkvist), who figures into her past; a toothy consultant played by Victor Iván, whose awkward post-sex behavior provides one of the series’ more comic set pieces; and a neighbor with whom Amanda shares a quieter moment. Her sister Adina and their circle of friends — including Milleman (Malou Marnfeldt), Jabba (Dilan Apak) and Ronja (Zahraa Aldoujaili) — accompany her nights out, serving as wingpeople, sounding boards and occasional instigators.
The show often invites comparison to Sex and the City and to more recent series that depict thirtysomething women reengaging with romance, such as Love Life, How to Die Alone, Survival of the Thickest and Shrill. Reviewers note that Diary of a Ditched Girl follows many familiar beats of the genre: a protagonist newly single or newly determined to be active in the dating scene, scenes of nightlife and hookups, and a focus on bodily humor and frank sexual moments.
Carla Sehn’s performance is central to how the material reads on screen. Sehn plays Amanda with a loose physicality and wide-eyed earnestness that reviewers said makes the character sympathetic and compelling, even when the premise feels familiar. The series allows for explicit moments and awkward sex scenes that aim for comic effect rather than titillation alone; Sehn’s portrayal anchors those sequences and gives Amanda agency in her pursuit of desire.
Marnfeldt’s Milleman draws notice as a forceful, Samantha-like presence in the friend group, introducing herself to men in the club with a whip and a dauntless approach to flirting. The supporting cast provide color and energy, though some critics wished for deeper insight into their lives beyond their roles as foils to Amanda’s journey. The production also spends little time on Amanda’s life outside the family business, a common shorthand for the genre that concentrates storytelling on romantic pursuits.
The series is scripted and paced in a way that assumes audience familiarity with the romcom-drama template: protagonists approaching or past 30, comedic embarrassment, and the tension between wanting casual encounters and seeking a lasting relationship. That familiarity is both a shortcoming and a selling point; viewers drawn to character-driven, sex-positive comedies will find elements to enjoy, while those seeking a novel angle on the material may find the show predictable.
Diary of a Ditched Girl situates its story in Malmö, and the local setting contributes to the show’s tone without overwhelming the central relationship-driven plot. The adaptation keeps the novel’s premise intact while relying on Sehn’s star turn to differentiate the series from its predecessors.
A Decider review concluded that the show is worth streaming, calling it one of the more enjoyable entries in the recent wave of romcom series largely because of Sehn’s charisma. For audiences who appreciate candid, often awkward portrayals of modern dating and who are comfortable with explicit content framed as character comedy, Diary of a Ditched Girl offers a familiar but entertaining addition to the genre.