The creator of The Bridge is back. A decade ago Hans Rosenfeldt created and co-wrote one of the most iconic Nordic noir series of all time. Now there’s a new six-part series based on his first novel, Cry Wolf – a mystery set in a small town on the border between Finland and Sweden. And if you think you know what to expect from that set-up, think again.
When human remains are found in the stomach of a dead wolf near the small Swedish border town of Haparanda, officer Hannah Wester (Eva Melander, also seen in ) is on the case. It doesn’t take long to find the rest of the body and figure out there’s more going on than a simple case of a hunter becoming the hunted, but this is the kind of situation where trouble just keeps on coming.
Eva Melander as Hannah Wester. Credit: Andrej Vasilenko
Across the border, another corpse has been found, this time by ex-con Kenneth (Amed Bozan) and his prison guard girlfriend Sandra (Nora Bredefeldt). The car containing the corpse also holds three duffle bags full of cash and drugs, and it’s the middle of the night on a deserted road: it doesn’t take long before the couple decide to help themselves to what’s inside. What better way to make a new start in life? Trouble is, starting a new life requires you to stay alive, and as the previous owner (who’s still rotting in his car, only now the couple have stashed it in a shed) has made clear, that’s going to be a little tricky.
[What follows is a slight spoiler for action that takes place early on in the show. It's a key part of everything that unfolds, but if you prefer no spoilers, we suggest heading directly to to start watching]
Seemingly unrelated to all of the above, a mysterious figure named Kat (Britain’s Eliot Sumner, a familiar face from No Time to Die, Ripley and The Gentlemen) is hiding in a watch tower in the woods.
Kit (Eliot Sumner). Credit: Johan Paulin
The story that follows owes as much to the work of the Coen brothers as it does classic Nordic Noir, and not just because it quickly becomes clear that Kat is the kind of remorseless killing machine that could give No Country for Old Men’s unstoppable Anton Chigurh a run for his money.
The tone here owes a lot to Fargo, as a snowbound small town becomes besieged with crime and criminals, with a good-hearted local cop stuck in the centre of the vortex. Pretty soon it’s clear that just about everyone is in over their heads: Kat kills her way towards the missing duffle bags, the local criminals get involved, and Kenneth and Sandra realise that when you’re sitting on a huge stockpile of ill-gotten gains it’s probably not the smartest idea to tell any of your so-called friends about it.
... the further Hannah digs into the case the more she uncovers a very personal angle to what’s going on.
While the original novel and initial scripts came from Rosenfeldt, much of the quirkier moments are the , who worked together on the Netflix series Snabba Cash. Together they play up on the dark humour intrinsic to the story, where the police struggle with a lack of clues, the criminals struggle with a lack of information, and Kat struggles to not end every single conversation she has by killing the other person.
But it’s not all gun and games, as the further Hannah digs into the case the more she uncovers a very personal angle to what’s going on. Nineteen years ago, her daughter disappeared without a trace. Elin was just four years old: to this day the tragedy has cast a long, dark shadow over her life, and her marriage to Thomas (Henrik Dorsin).
Hannah (Eva Melander) and fellow officer Gordon (Hannes Fohlin). Credit: Andrej Vasilenko
When Hannah starts to suspect there may be a connection, there’s no question that she’s going to follow it wherever it may lead. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem; on your average day Haparanda isn’t exactly a hotbed of crime demanding her attention. But as we’ve established, Haparanda is going through a crime wave that’s anything but normal.
For Hannah, now it’s personal. And as the ever-growing list of criminals and killers showing up in her town are going to discover, when Hannah is after something you do not want to get in her way.
Cry Wolf is streaming at SBS On Demand.
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Cry Wolf
