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As part of its new true-crime series, “The Breakthrough,” Netflix shows a key Swedish probe that took almost twenty years to finish. The four-part limited series, which premiered on January 7, 2025, is based on the 2004 double murder in Linköping, which was the first murder case in Europe to be solved using genetic forensics.

The series, created by Lisa Siwe and written by Oskar Söderlund, is about Detective John Sundin (Peter Eggers), who is trying to find justice in a case about to be forgotten. The story focuses on the important work that police and genealogist Per Skogvist (played by Mattias Nordkvist) did together. Skogvist’s DNA profiling techniques were very helpful in solving the case.

The series goes beyond the usual crime procedural format. It was filmed in Linköping, where the killings happened. It details how long inquiries can make people feel. Eggers’ character, who is based on the real-life detective Jan Egon Staaf,...

The Breakthrough is one of the latest new releases that's trending on Netflix, and there are a number of compelling actors in it that audiences may not be familiar with. The new Swedish crime drama is inspired by an infamous real-life double homicide that occurred in 2004 in Linköping. Though tragic, the case was fascinating in that it took nearly two decades to solve, with new DNA technology finally bringing new information forward. The new adaptation looks to be considered among the top crime shows on Netflix.

Due to the project being developed in Sweden before being distributed by Netflix, much of The Breakthrough's cast will be unfamiliar to audiences in the US. That said, there are some talented actors giving fantastic performances in the series, and their previous work is worth exploring after the four episodes in the miniseries. The Breakthrough offers binge-worthy drama, and many of its actors...

Netflix’s Swedish crime drama, The Breakthrough, is inspired by the real-life account of the 2004 Linköping double homicide case, one of the most infamous cases in the country’s history, that remained unsolved for over one and a half decades. The victims, eight-year-old Mohammad Amouri and fifty-six-year-old Anna-Lena Svensson, were stabbed to death in broad daylight, and the identity of the killer remained a mystery until 2020, when ancestry tracing through DNA mapping techniques was utilized to track down the perpetrator. While the technological advancement of genetic identification, which helped the investigators to solve the case, is unique and promising, the miniseries mainly focuses on the human aspect of the investigation by taking the lives of involved persons into account. A greater emphasis is put on the terrible nature of the crime, which affected not only the families of the victims but also the ones who became embroiled in the investigation...

So awesome that I almost can’t bear it. And so relevant to today: Are the battles between rich and poor, science and superstition, freedom and repression actually endless? I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

There are so many ways in which the 2011 Swedish TV drama Anno 1790 is awesome that I almost can’t bear it. It’s like CSI and Law and Order with a bit of Sherlock and a dash of Les Misérables. Oh, and just a hint of Jane Austen, maybe? And just the teensiest hint of the steampunk? But there’s nothing fantastical or costume-drama fancy about these ten episodes either: there’s a palpable, earthy authenticity to its invocation of late 18th-century Stockholm, all mud and cold, all frilly lace and powdered wigs as little more than lipstick on pigs,...