Monster

Monster tries to make the most of the brilliant, mystical Artic circle, but in the end, for me, the script and pace was a massive let down. Monster is the starts with a missing persons investigation. The lead investigators are a combative couple - a prodigal daughter with a curious past who has returned to care for her ailing father, and a young detective battling his own personal demons. Missing turns to murder and the body count rapidly multiplies as the layers of the small community are peeled away to reveal infidelity, religious zealotism, drug trafficking and more. The investigators flounder as the looping plotlines entangle them and they push up against their own inadequacies (at a certain point one concedes that they are pretty hopeless at the job of detecting). The cinematography is lovely and some of the performances are compelling, but the pace is inconsistent and neither the undercurrent of mysticism nor the tightening circle of a murder investigation are fully realised. As the plot tangents multiplied, my suspension of disbelief was challenged by a few too many convenient coincidences, not to mention police work that would make the Keystone Cops feel like an elite force. I'm pretty sure that a 21st century Norwegian police force, even a small one, in the remote northern reaches, wouldn't settle for repeated crime scene violations and un-bagged, unsecured evidence being traipsed about the countryside. I swear I'm not being pedantic. It's those kind of details that serve as a huge distraction, particularly when the plot itself is at risk of sinking. I think Monster tries too hard to do too much, and in the end become so muddied that none of the storylines feel satisfactorily told.

It is a little difficult to know where to start with this review. There are seven episodes in total of this Norwegian-noir. By the end I think I had just about managed to work out who had killed whom and why, but in the process I had also slightly lost the will to live!

As other reviewers have already observed, seven episodes is far too many for this drama. There probably was potential for a decent thriller here but, sadly, this was sabotaged by a convoluted storyline including the now well worn trope of strange religious and ritual practices, plus some very odd directing choices.

There are a few positives. Despite mixed performances, the actress who plays Hedda is very good, and snowy Norwegian landscapes are always beautiful to look at. I must also commend two actors for their sheer bravery in filming a post-sauna scene outside (not what you might be thinking!).

One final thought. I am still trying to comprehend why two of the younger characters leave with each other right at the end, as friends, to begin a new future for themselves after one essentially tortured the other in an earlier episode. All very strange - much like the entire series of Monster.

A little different in terms of comparing this series to other Nordic thrillers. A little slow and plodding, but makes for some interesting characters....especially the women. A relatively new and young actress who plays JANI in the series is interesting in that she emotes much in her facial expressions and lack of speech. Nice job for her first major role. The main female cop, HEDDA, is also interesting in that she shows emotion both in expression and facial responses. most male characters, except for one, are old and dull, and you get tired of seeing them so much...but, alas, they are necessary to the story. The scenery is gorgeous and moody. This is definitely not your typical Hollywood crime thriller. Nordic regions, keep them coming.

I love Nordic Noir and this is a fairly watchable entry into that canon. Unfortunately, the implausible plot, wooden dialogue and plotlines that are too confusing to hold this snowy saga tightly together, prevent me from awarding it any more than 6 out of 10. The problem is it's trying too hard to be weird and quirky to really engage on any plausible level. The two lead detectives are weird and quirky, the locals are just weird and the plot is lifted from about a dozen better films and tv shows. Mysterious blonde teenage girl is murdered in a ritualistic manner in small Hicksville town and said murder is investigated by inadequate local cops and fish out of water city cops. The city cops both dislike each other and then through mutual blackmail work together to solve a current slew of murders which may be linked to murders 30 years previously. The cinematography is great and the scenery breathtaking but a handful of good action set pieces, including a machine gun shootout at a drugs factory, cannot save this chilly potboiler. On a positive note, the acting is pretty good but the dialogue is very stilted and strange which adds to the off kilter feel of the show. None of the characters are very likeable and seem to have no issues with breaking or twisting the law to their own ends - and that's just the cops! I did like the portrayal of Hedda, a very unglamorous female cop who at least had some dimension to her character. Could have been so much better, the potential was there!

Monster or as I have come to know it, "mord i vildmarken" (murder in the wildernes). Is a Norwegian thriller, that unfolds in the remote, northern reaches of Norway, somewhere near the Russian border. It's a small, isolated community, maybe not as tight-knit, as one might think. With secrecy, religion and more. After a young girl goes missing, the police gets their hands full. And we, the viewers, soon gets introduced to alot of new characters. Everyone with their own story and even agenda, it could seem. And it is surely a challenge, to try and figure out how the whole story fits together, with past events and current stories all entangled. Alot of the story, being told, aren't even important for the actual plot in the story. But then again, that all adds to the mystery and oddness. The cinematography ain't bad, the scenery is convincing and there is a general eerie feel to this story in the arctic north. There are none of the characters that you will "root for", and I'm sure it's intended that way. It adds to the whole story. However, I don't really think any of the characters performed outstandingly, but they weren't bad either. There are certain slower sequences, but not to a point where you start to get bored. I gave this 6 stars, which is typically my cutoff for something worth watching, with so much other on offer. In all, this series has enough to offer, to be worth a watch, good camerawork, decent performances and a mysterious thriller with alot of extra oddness added.