Verschwunden in Lørenskog

A Norwegian thriller based on true events.

This kidnapping story could have been packed in one movie and not divided in seven hours episodes. Too long because it couldn't keep enough my attention with suspense or intriguing elements. At the end of the second part I switched off. Okay, in the first part these ingredients were shown but the longer it run the more I was bored to continue watching these seven part limited series. Yes, luckily only limited. Watch instead the top Hollywood kidnapping movies Trapped, Cellular with Kim Basinger, Panic Room with Julianne Moore or The Call with Halle Berry.

Fascinating, detailed, intriguing examination of a real-life missing person case. Each episode follows one of the parties involved, ie the police, the journalists, the lawyers, and the story emerges from this fractured looking glass. All good and original and engaging so far. However, when it comes to the 5th and final episode, this series simply just pulls up the drawbridge on the story and gives nothing to the viewer by way of theory, explanation, new perspective. OK it's a 'true' story, more or less, and as such the jury is still out and no one has been convicted. But ending the series with little more than a shrug just confirms this as s a TV experience this is just a distraction for a few hours and with nothing to contribute to the subject it asks us to consider. To be avoided.

This is my first IMDb review, and I feel compelled to write after looking at the less positive reviews here. The Scandanavian dramas on Netflix have been among my favorite of all of their programs, and this one is near the top. The performances are consistently compelling, natural and believable, the directing taut, and, in the best sense, drama-free. The viewer really feels like s/he is in the middle of this complex drama. The story holds a mirror up to issues of class, sexism, police and journalistic bias without providing any easy answers. I was a bit taken aback at the end of Episode 5 that there was no Episode 6, but after some reflection, thought the ambiguous ending suited the series; however, seeing a note from other reviewer about it being missing, I"m sure that if it exists, it will do justice to what preceded it. If you're looking for something fast-paced, easy and prone to putting its thumb on the scale for the topics it covers, this show isn't for you, but if you want something superbly made and thought-provoking, I think you'll find this series well worth your time, whether 5 episodes or 6.

Summary

The novelty of this cold and intelligent Norwegian series based on a real case is that each chapter focuses on one of the sectors involved in the case and as the investigation progresses.

Review

This Norwegian mini-series based on a true case recounts the investigation of the disappearance of the wife of a Norwegian billionaire, in what appears to be a kidnapping.

The novelty of this series lies in the fact that each chapter focuses on one of the groups involved in the case and as the investigation progresses, for example: the first focuses on the police and prosecutors, the next on the journalists who investigate the case, and so on. The change of point of view then does not imply flashbacks that return to certain events, in general, nor the absence of the other protagonists, who circumstantially pass into the background. I must add that there would be some important stratum missing as the protagonist of some chapter...

The tone of the series is cold but its notes on how these groups are related and how prejudices and personal stories work in their working hypotheses are very interesting (particularly in the case of the press) as well as on the role of cryptocurrencies in kidnapping for ransom.

Needless to say, the ending is disappointing, and for more than one reason (which I can't reveal).

I stayed with this unusual mystery drama from Norway right to the end, but really rather wish I hadn't. It's claimed that the story was based on real-life events, but if that really was the case, then truth must indeed be stranger than fiction.

A middle-aged woman is forcibly kidnapped from her home while her billionaire husband is away. But no ransom note is immediately forthcoming and as home truths emerge about the state of the couple's marriage and in particular the elderly husband's extra-marital life, the mystery grows with every passing day, the latter documented by periodic datelines coming up on screen.

The two main cops assigned to the case are a woman and man team, she, a white woman, the dogged proceedural type, he, a younger black man, willing to think and work outside the box to try to crack the case, even if it means engaging with the criminal fraternity. The woman, as is commonplace in dramas like this, has family issues, in the form of her father who suffers from Alzheimer's Disease.

Also on the case is a determined crime reporter from a daily national newspaper who finally gets a break which takes him to Sweden, but unfortunately for him he's identified and gets badly beaten up for his trouble. It all goes down or so you're led to believe, to a climactic conclusion which at least from where I was sitting, seemed to leave the viewer high and dry.

Up until that point, it was just about okay as these Scandi-noir series go. With each episode coming at the story from a different angle, I found it too difficult to join the dots in the narrative which may have contributed to my disillusionment and dissatisfaction with the ending.

I appreciate that the original and unusual prismatic format adopted here may have been an attempt to freshen up the genre, but for me, it just felt like I was led up the path and in the end left absolutely nowhere by an over-enigmatic ending.