Pigerne fra Englandsbåden

Very poorly scripted, with too many plot holes and unrealistic plot behaviour. Foreign viewers may not notice the theatrically presented lines and artificial lines, but a Danish viewer will quickly notice. Foreign viewers will, however, notice how slooooowlyy things move. The 8 x 40 minutes could easily have been reduced to half without losing anything. But not even that would make it worth watching due to the poor and unbelievable plot. I never understood why film makers don't have professionals proof read their scripts before thet start filming, among others to check if the behaviour of the poliecemen is at least remotely plausible.

This is a slowly evolving narrative. It's not anything like as bad as some suggest. There is nothing doubt some scenes are on the ponderous side so the direction is a bit at fault. The story is credible and interestingly convoluted. There's definitely a number of points where you try to get Nora to behave a bit more rationally. Lisbeth is played with some menace by Susan A Olsen who stands out here compared to other roles she has been given in Borden or The Eagle. Over all worth watching. It is important to accept the play is about the character development and underlying psychology of the individuals here. I enjoyed it even with the slow pace.

I seen some reviews that were critical of the program being far too slow. Apparently, they are entertained by the procedural programs in which after a crime is committed in the first 10 minutes the rest of episode is spent gathering facts and suspects until the last 5 minutes when an arrest is made. Police work often is far more extensive requiring days, weeks or longer to arrive at a resolution. The weakness in this program was the potential police coverup which has become something of a cliche. Also, another cliche is potentially attaching a crime to the wrong individual. Otherwise, this particular program was very entertaining.

Streaming on Channel 4 (UK) made the slow paced thriller even slower.

The frequent adds, and the glitches at times in the streaming made this a difficult watch. I can't really take away stars from the film for reasons outside the film makers control, but it did impact on my enjoyment watching this.

I'll take one star away because of the ending, as it it just didn't meet my expectations.

I'll take another because it simply was a tad to slow at times. Like unnatural long pauses in phone calls. Only example I can give to avoid spoilers.

Another star is deducted because of the filming. At first I made excuses it was an old production but it appears from 2023, so a bit too old school or low budget.

The story line had potential but falls short at times, the yet another star deducted.

The acting is not great performance either, a final star deducted.

I'll leave the remaining 5, as I did watch it to the end. The plot delivers twists and turns and all sorts that belongs to a decent thriller, and it could have had great potential. At least it's a mini series with no cliffhangers.

I'll give it an extra star because it is a Danish series jumping it to six stars.

I had really been looking forward to this, nordic crime, as so often before, and hopefully as good as usual.

But despite a good story, based on a popular book, a cast that seems to deliver, even if not big stars, it ends up boring, because so little happens, way to many empty pauses, and characters that stare empty into the void. If the series was shorted by one third, it would work.

On top of that, lines that is too much, that no one would say in real life, and is too clumsy. Sometime I wonder if the book has a deeper layer, that the movie never dig enough into and we therefore do not understand. Instead we hear actors say sentences that is not really connected to anything and sound like a cliche.

It is not all bad, after all I watched it to the end. It's just never really good. Maybe I should read the book.