Arctic Circle: Der unsichtbare Tod

Arctic Circle is a very interesting yet somewhat underrated Finnish-German co-production series to watch. I enjoyed it with pleasure, despite its flaws.

• (+) Very good acting by all the cast, with a big V. The beautiful Iina Kuustonen was a joy to follow through. By the way, Venla should have been properly credited as she did an awesome job. Shame on you the Executives.
• (+) Amazing depiction of the harsh climate (~ -40 Celsius), snow-blanketed Lapland and Ivalo with super beautiful vast landscapes, filming, sceneries and shots. One of the high plus of the show.
• (+-) Scientifically Interesting premise and screenplay with touching sub-storylines, unfortunately with big plot-holes, complemented with more than bad editing and super unrealistic happenings, events and results.
• Definitely deserves a final season 2 with new twists and turns and tying loose ends. Hope they are smart enough to realize it.

14 reviews only for a nice and thrilling European series finished one and a half year ago. There is something definitely wrong here!

Hope it is graced with a second season and followed by more dramatic series from thrilling Finland. They are on the right path, though, they still have a lot to learn from deeper Scandinavian marvels like Bron/Broen.

I watched the first season, and I think the second one has not released as of yet.

I really wanted to like this more than I did. The start of the show was strong and the scenery is beautiful. Everything about it screams production value as well, there are no complaints in that regard (camera work, directing, props etc.) for me.

Well, there's one thing. The "action" sequences and especially the whole of episode 9 is just brutally hard to watch. I don't know what it is, but everything about episode 9 and action stuff in general just seems... off. Can't really say what ruins the experience as I'm not an expert in that, but something is just off.

The premise is okay-ish. I mean the plot is definitely one of the weakest points of this show, but the character developments are generally good enough to distract you from the lackluster main plot. Sometimes the threads in the plot just make no sense and sometimes they are unintentionally hilarious and awkward (like the whole arc of the one-eyed dude, jesus).

What saves the show and gives me confidence to put a 7/10 on the board is the fact that the camera work, directing, acting, sound design and all that good stuff that immerses you in the experience is really great, honestly. The acting especially really surpassed my expectations, though I have to mention again that the lackluster plot just drags that down with it for some part.

All in all it's not a bad season. Good enough for me to wait for season 2, but not good enough to make me rush to get my hands on it. I'll definitely check the next season out if it happens to be on any platform I subscribe to, but I won't go out of my way to watch it.

The English dubbing in this film is so atrocious that it reduces the appeal of the entire story. The dubbing cast sounds like it's reading from a sixth grade English class script. Not paying any attention to the what the words say or mean because they think that a full stop Is at the end of each line on the paper. A few irritatingly read two words at a time, like the SNL spoof of Captain Kirk. Add some annoying speech impediments plus a lack of expression or emotion in the dubbed lines and you're left with most of the tension and atmosphere reduced. I've heard more animation from people reading a menu than those supposedly going through tense and emotional scenes.

The story is intriguing - sex trafficking, a dangerous pathogen and cross border tensions should provide lots of intrigue and drama. The expressions and body language of the actors (some ofvwhom I've been impressed with from watching other Finnish dramas with subtitles) indicates that they are infinitely better than the talentless dubbing cast- in fact, it sounds like there are about six people in the dubbing cast, with each reading several characters. Badly. Part of the problem could be that the dubbing actors are not native English speakers, which would account for both the wooden delivery and the lack of flow.

The atmosphere, settings and scenery provide an air of menace that emphasizes the isolation of a sparsely populated place and the claustrophobia of a small village, despite showing vast tracts of pristine white landscapes.

Ironically, the main character chastises an older cop for using less than flattering terms for sex workers, but the entire casts uses Lappland, which is viewed as derogatory towards the indigenous Sampi or Sami people who live in the very northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland.

I really want to see what happens so I will endure the increasingly irritating dubbing to find out.

Maybe Plex can do what Netflix does, offer the viewer the option of watching non- English shows dubbed or subtitled. For maximum enjoyment l, go for the subtitles.

Well, officially it is Finnish-German production, but most of performers come from Finland and most events take place there as well (more precisely, in Lapland near the Artic Circle), so you get, above all, a picture how life in those harsh conditions go on and what potential dangers and risks can appear.

If/when some virus is included, then it is always "food for thought", but in the modern fast developing technology - you never know; what was unimaginable a decade ago, can be a reality now, etc. All in all, as "pure crime stuff" was included, I had nothing against this inclusion (usually I am not into non-human death inducers).

As for the cast, all main performers were unknown to me, but there was a strong and nice team-work, no character "shining" above or at the expense of others. It is more to my liking than the use of same actors-actresses in similar series, causing confusion or reducing the thrill if they tend to play similar roles as well.

Based on the ending scenes, I am looking forward to the potential Season 2.

PS I have to admit that I liked Seasons 2 and 3 even more - perhaps due to more versatility and other degradation factors than virus. The inclusion of more international performers has also broadened approach and geography. And, well, it was okay to watch snow and blizzard if there is over +20 degrees Centigrade outside... :)

This series started out strong, but then it got tangled up in it's own convoluted and unbelievable plotting. The actors and actresses are great, and especially the child actress Venla does a great job. The sense of family really comes across. The filmography is incredible and the beauty of winter in Lapland comes across wonderfully. These are the reasons I'm giving this a 6 instead of a 5/10.

But if you could give an outstanding award for plot holes and ridiculousness, it would go to this series, I'm sad to say. I lost interest after the halfway-point and barely watched the last two episodes.

What is most irksome is how the lead characters are excused all their flaws--the German man cheats on his wife and the whole storyline is about her being a "psycho crazy woman". To give the depiction of her mental breakdown some balance, perhaps his cheating could've been in some way even mentioned, but it's literally never addressed and he's depicted as the victim to her inexcusable mental breakdown while he is heroically trying to save lives. Nina's character has a similar problem, her actions as a police officer in the last episodes are not believable and for her to be barely reprimanded for them is irksome.

Overall, not a very good watch.