Erlösung

When I went to see the film The Keeper of Lost Causes, I loved the movie so much that when I discovered it was one in a trilogy called Department Q, I had to see the others. I saw the second of the movies, The Absent One and was as impressed with it as the first. Now I'm up to A Conspiracy of Faith and I'm Definitely impress with the trilogy as a whole, but must confess, this is the weakest out of them all.

In A Conspiracy of Faith, police detective Carl ls burnt out and needs some resurgence that his job is worth it as he works the cold case Department Q. This comes at a bad time when Department Q catches the case of a 3 year old murder, and discover the killer is not done killing.

The movie takes a certain turn away form the other two. The case is not as complex, it's more right in your face, which allows for more action. It's the type of format I would expect from the second movie not the third.

On it's own A Conspiracy of Faith is a suspenseful action thriller, that's straight up protagonist vs. antagonist with a lot of dark themes and concepts that make for a remarkable film.

As part of the Department Q trilogy, it's new take on the crime drama series makes it fall into the third movie cruse.

It might seem that there is a decline in the movies, but this is still rock solid. I can only imagine that the book is even more than that. It has characters from the previous movies (and books of course) and has a case that is pretty strong. You don't have the urgent feeling and the playfulness it had in the previous movies. As dark as they got, you always had something light in them.

That's almost missing entirely here. There's still character moments, but strings and things are being said and left on the sideline without giving them a resolution. It's a shame, but the movie is packed so much, that some things have not the punch they deserved to have and should have had. Still the movie and especially the villain are great. And it's not so much about who it is, but why he is and where and how to find him ...

As I had seen Kvinden i buret and Fasandræberne and liked them both, it is logical that I set to Flaskepost fra P as well. And I am contented again, even a bit more than with the other two. Following the main leitmotif, there are witty dialogues between the two policemen about faith and religion, and more suspense scenes where the outcome is unpredictable. Perhaps the wrongdoer's identity was revealed too soon, but his motives not revealed until the end and great performances of all stars of the film generated yet a pleasant and intense film experience, based on a renown book by Jussi Adler-Olsen (well, I have not read them, but I am not a person vigorously comparing related books and films, with a trivial conclusion that "the book was much better" :))

So, another good creation within Scandinavian Noir, and another reason and opportunity to acquaint yourself with Nikolaj Lie Kaas' talent.

I saw Norwegian director Hans Petter Moland's recent film In Order of Disappearance (2014) a couple of years ago. I was very impressed with that Nordic noir which was both very humorous and inventive. A Conspiracy of Faith is another thriller but one with quite a differing approach. It dispenses with the comedy of the earlier film and instead goes for a pretty downbeat approach. Hardly surprising really when you consider that the story is about two cops investigating the case of two abducted children. This kind of material is always one that is going to be somewhat dark, another recent north European film The Treatment (2014) dealt with this subject in a very head on manner and consequently was very disturbing indeed in places. A Conspiracy of Faith only goes so far with its dark material and by the end of the film slightly dissipates its impact further by having its narrative go into more standard thriller territory. But despite that, this is still another compelling bit of Nordic noir.

There are strong acting performances throughout, with a return performance from Pål Sverre Hagen - so memorable as the hilarious vegan crime boss from In Order of Disappearance - as the cold hearted psychopath. The story has added interest in that it mixes in themes of religion, with the killer himself solely targeting children from deeply religious families, exploiting the fact that these people have more faith in God than in the police. So there are a few distinctive elements interwoven into what otherwise may have been a standard serial killer thriller. I would probably rate this as less interesting as the more ambitious In Order of Disappearance but it still remains yet another pretty impressive Scandinavian noir.

I had high expectations for this third film - would it be as good as the two previous films?

I am delighted that it is. But different than the other two films. This film has more dialog between the two main characters, about they're personal life and faith. It brings more depths to the characters, and it does not come in the way of the story-line.

As the previous films, this haunting crime-film is all about the darkest and most twisted evil people, and they're terrible actions towards innocent people. In this film it also deals with children, so it's very gripping. As a Norwegian Im delighted to see Norwegians actors in this film, they really brings life to the film, acting in a convincing way. It even has a Norwegian director. But this it danish crime at it's very very best.

Well, if you like dark tales, this one is for you. Hope they follow this up with more films.