Stream It Or Skip It: ‘ABBA: Against The Odds’ on Netflix, A Doc About The Swedish Group’s Eurovision Victory And Resulting Pop Fame 

ABBA: Against The Odds (Netflix) travels backmost 50-plus years to 1974, erstwhile Sweden first gave ABBA to nan world. A set of 2 couples, Agnetha Fȁltskog and Björn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad and Benny Andersson, ABBA represented their state successful nan yearly Eurovision Song Contest, won it pinch “Waterloo,” and were abruptly nan biggest point going connected nan world popular euphony stage. Directed by James Rogan, ABBA: Against The Odds is simply a accumulation of nan BBC, which arsenic a broadcaster of nan 2025 Eurovision Song Contest – and its title information successful May – has an liking successful supporting worldly that showcases nan competition’s history. So if you want to cognize really Netherlands aliases Luxembourg aliases Greece voted successful Eurovision 1974, it’s included successful nan archival footage utilized to create ABBA: Against All Odds. 

ABBA – AGAINST ALL ODDS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: “It’s a damp squib – it’s going to end. Tacky, plastic.” Leave it to nan snippy British euphony property of nan early 1970s to put a damper connected ABBA’s success, conscionable arsenic they’d recovered it. Despite nan haters, nan quartet’s 24-point triumph astatine Eurovision successful ‘74 launched their onslaught connected nan marketplace for deceptively simple, effervescent tunes that anyone could singing on to, and by 1976, ABBA had scored early power hits pinch “Waterloo,” “Mamma Mia,” and “Fernando,” and taken their flair for non gender-specific and outrageous flights of rayon, low-cut, aliases different be-frilled outfits to media appearances passim Europe and Australia. “Dancing Queen” followed – “When we recorded [it,],” Agnetha Fȁltskog says of that classical successful Against The Odds, “both Frida and I, we sewage goosebumps” – and ABBA’s lasting personality arsenic a popular group was set.

Against The Odds times its subject’s progression into nan world’s consciousness by nan penetration of their astir celebrated songs. While Europe and Australia were early adopters of ABBA singles, America was an wholly abstracted situation for nan group, and erstwhile “Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)” deed successful 1979, its sound fought pinch nan racist and homophobic US backlash to disco typified by Disco Demolition Night. Punk euphony was climbing up to return space, too, which besides put ABBA’s happy-go-lucky, sometimes plasticky worldly connected a taste backmost foot. But Against The Odds besides looks astatine nan soul workings of ABBA successful nan years aft their first success, erstwhile nan changing tastes of nan nationalist and nan euphony manufacture weren’t nan only root of friction. Fȁltskog hated flying, location was clash betwixt starting a family and remaining a popular star, and past nan divorces came, putting much unit connected Ulvaeus and Fȁltskog and Frida Lyngstad and Benny Andersson to support ABBA arsenic a professional, but nary longer individual entity.

For this doc, it each goes backmost to Eurovision, and ABBA’s fame successful England. While nan quartet ne'er officially collapsed up, they were connected hiatus by 1982, and Against The Odds uses footage from nan group’s six-night guidelines astatine Wembley Arena successful 1979, later released arsenic a unrecorded medium and DVD, arsenic its concluding bookend. With nan continued popular civilization beingness of their music, it feels for illustration a doc pinch a fuller image of nan group’s euphony could still happen. But successful nan meantime, this one’s a giddy ceremony of ABBA’s biggest early splashes, marked by catchy melodies and gait aft gait of skintight bluish satin.

Photo: Everett Collection

What Movies Will It Remind You Of? Another BBC doc astir ABBA does exist, The Joy of ABBA, and it’s available to watercourse connected YouTube. In nan caller docuseries Ace of Base: All That She Wants, nan cycles of Swedish popular euphony history repetition successful nan 1990s pinch nan meteoric emergence of Ace of Base. And if you don’t cognize thing astir nan real-life Eurovision, fto Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams – and a scene-stealing Dan Stevens – amended you successful poptastic nosy manner pinch Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.    

Performance Worth Watching: Archival footage makes up nan entirety of ABBA: Against The Odds, but a fewer moments guidelines out. Like nan group’s quality connected Polish tv successful 1976, a sparkling practice of Western popular music, unrecorded from down nan Iron Curtain. Or nan memorable shots from nan first show ever connected their 1977 Australian tour, wherever ABBA emerges successful flurries of falling rainfall to nan opening strains of “Tiger.” 

Memorable Dialogue: In nan precocious 1970s, arsenic ABBA’s fame grew, journalist and writer Viven Goldman says nan set “seemed to task a relentless bully cheer,” a cheeriness that was straight opposed to nan forces represented successful nan emergence of punk rock. “Punk came along,” Goldman continues, “overturning and turning its backmost connected each that had travel before.” 

Sex and Skin: None.

Photo: Everett Collection

Our Take: These days, nan euphony of ABBA has fueled a Mamma Mia! jukebox musical that’s go an entire industry unto itself, and successful London, you tin moreover bargain tickets to spot integer avatars – “ABBAtars,” natch – perform nan quartet’s songs astatine a Sphere-like purpose-built intermezo venue. So nan durability of nan band’s melodies is not successful question, and ABBA themselves bask a benignant of enduring fame detached from its beingness upkeep. That detachment doesn’t needfully alteration pinch ABBA: Against The Odds, since nary of nan interviews we perceive are on-camera, it’s unclear whether nan audio is caller aliases repurposed from existing tapes, location is nary extracurricular commentary, and nan doc doesn’t create nan benignant of arcing communicative that would contextualize nan quartet’s early experiences pinch what came later. 

So possibly it’s cool conscionable to watch Against The Odds for nan footage, because successful that respect, it’s sewage a ton of visuals to offer. From nan sparkly exploding prima electrical guitar played by Björn Ulvaeus for “Waterloo” astatine Eurovision – nan provenance of this instrumentality is simply a topic for net sleuths – to Frida Lyngstad and Agnetha Fȁltskog sporting fantabulous arrays of tight-fitting jumpsuits accentuated pinch wing-like cloth panels successful each colour of nan seventies artistic rainbow, nan six years of ABBA covered successful Against The Odds are replete pinch unthinkable drip and era-specific equipment.  

Our Call: Stream It. It mightiness not beryllium nan final, astir complete connection connected its subject, but ABBA: Against The Odds accesses a grip of great-looking archival footage arsenic it flows from nan Swedish quartet’s large triumph astatine Eurovision successful 1974 done a whirlwind fewer years of worldwide popular stardom.

Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is an independent writer and editor surviving astatine ample successful Chicagoland. His activity has appeared successful The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.