The Darkness

Was expecting a cheesy theatrical Icelandic cop drama but was pleasantly suprised to find a beautiful, suspensful and unpredictable series. The Icelandic actors really stood out as proper good even though they were not acting in their mother tongue. Björn Hlynur and Thorvaldur were great!

Lena Olin was a bit stiff at first but as the series plays out her character deepens and her acting starts fitting the character better. Bannon was great!

Cinematography and lighting was top notch and the aerials were superb in the low light conditions. Street lights, snow and tire tracks are a suprisingly pretty combo, who knew?

Definitely recommend.

Everyone who reviewed this series so far has a valid point and, taken their individual pint of view, is accurate in his or her review. Not much to add here other than, for me, it was a huge disappointment. Only the addition of Jack Bannon, kept me from watching the series to it's torturous end.

What really got to me was the incredibly bad depiction of the Icelandic police force. If taken at face value, every policeman and policewoman is either an utter moron or too lazy to work. Everything in this series related to police work, police procedures and internal police management is so wrong, one questions the sanity of the person who wrote the script.

This could have been an excellent psychological twister-thriller, if the writer(s) wouldn't have assumed that the general viewing audience is comprised of morons as well.

3 Stars for the otherwise good, not great, performances of the lead actors and, of course, Jack Bannon.

Some absolutely great parts here - the photography, the field locations, Reykjavik looks beautiful. There are also some weak red-herrings in the plot. Also, some real acting talent is available but Doug Henshall from "Shetland" is completely wasted in a nothing and pointless role. But it's all squandered on a poor and poorly stitched-together narrative that felt rushed to a conclusion. Too many plot lines went nowhere, too many ideas thrown in (misogyny, indigenous and migrant bigotry), character motivations were poorly articulated and the lead actress had a cryptically explained personality and background too say the least.

Really disappointing.

Caught this while I was in Australia - it aired there (no US release yet?) - and I genuinely wasn't prepared for how good it is. Thought it'd be your standard moody crime drama with pretty backdrops. Instead, it's quietly gripping, sharp, and way more emotionally layered than it lets on at first.

It takes its time. It doesn't spoon-feed. The tone is icy but grounded, and the tension builds in this really restrained, almost hypnotic way. The lead performance is excellent - minimal, but you feel everything. Visually it's beautiful too. Cold, clean, controlled.

If I had one gripe, maybe a few of the supporting characters could've been fleshed out a little more - but the central story is strong enough to carry the whole thing.

Out of curiosity, I went and read the book afterward. Huge mistake. It's all internal monologue and emotional exposition - just endless moping. Hulda in the book is... not great. Kind of aimless. On-screen, though, she's magnetic. Everything the book tries to say, the show shows instead. The adaptation is tighter, smarter, way more alive.

Don't let it slip past you.

Also, all the trolls hating on it for not being whatever they think it should be (more Nordic?) should probably go back to Iceland.

I have seen many of the Nordic Noir / Crime series such as The Bridge, The Killing, Wallander, Beck, Trapped, Valhalla Murders, Karppi, etc. And I can assure you that this is one of the worst series in this genre that I have ever watched. The acting is so overreacting that you cannot stand it and I did not like the way how Lena Olin performs. On the other hand, there are plotholes in this series. I wish it was not so easy to guess who the killer was. It did not meet my expectations at all and I recommend you to skip these series and instead watch Den Som Draeber (Those Who Kill) series instead of wasting your time with this one. I give 3 over 10 only because it was filmed in Iceland.