The Åre Murders Review: An Irreverent Dive Into the Swedish Nordic Noir
During cold winter evenings, few genres, few genres work better than a freezing Nordic thriller. The Åre Murders (Åremorden original title), a Netflix series taken from the novels of Viveca Sten, proves to be the perfect entertainment for those who love crime with a suggestive and disturbing setting. Unlike many urban thrillers, this story takes us to the majestic snowy mountains of Åre, a fascinating and dangerous place. With just five episodes, the series is perfect for tight binge-watching, thanks to its division into two distinct investigative cases it keeps the viewer’s attention high, without boring him. For many, including us, the Nordic Noir, a neologism coined by professionals to indicate the yellow literary works with crime, noir, and police veins from the Scandinavian area, represents a real trademark that certifies the quality of what we are going to read. It goes without saying that whenever you are faced with an audiovisual transposition of one or more novels made in one of the countries of the area of interest, the wait and expectations are always quite high.
The same ones that we and many like us probably had placed in The Åre Murders, a serial adaptation in five episodes (from variable duration ranging from 35 to 60 minutes) of the novels of Viveca Sten, hidden in the Snow is Hidden in the shadows, directed to four hands from Joakim Eliasson is Alain Darborg. It takes just a few minutes of the first episode of the Swedish miniseries The Åre Murders to find us immediately enveloped by the typical atmosphere of Scandinavian noir. The small village in Jämtland County, located a few kilometers from the Norwegian border, is known for its ski slopes and winter sports tourism. A quiet place immersed in a landscape that looks like a crib where the main actors are undoubtedly the snow, the lake, the northern lights, the star-shaped lights hanging on the windows, the stugor of wood (welcoming houses that the Swedes use as a second home for the holidays). However, as the best Nordic yellows have taught us Trapped, a missed phone call, a subtle coincidence, or an unexpected event, is enough to transform the quiet of the inhabitants of a place into a complicated case of crime news.
The Åre Murders Review: The Story Plot
The protagonist, Hanna Ahlander (Carla Sehn), is a Stockholm policewoman looking for a new start after being suspended from service and abandoned by her boyfriend. Taking refuge in her sister’s holiday home in Åre, she quickly finds herself involved in an investigation into the disappearance of a young girl, Amanda. Initially viewed with distrust by local detective Daniel Lindskog (Kardo Razzazi), Hanna quickly demonstrates her worth by officially joining the research. The first investigation is compelling, with the construction of suspense that keeps the viewer glued to the screen. Every character Hanna encounters could be involved, and the narrative plays with this ambiguity until the case is resolved. The cast is another strong point, with well-known faces from the Scandinavian panorama such as Moa Gammel (Breaking Surface) and Frida Argento (Young Royals), which add depth to the secondary characters.
The Åre Murders Review and Analysis
After the conclusion of the first investigation, the story moves to a new case when a corpse is found under the ice. Hanna, initially intending to leave Åre, decides to stay and support Daniel again. This second narrative arc is even more layered, with new characters leading to further tensions in the plot. In particular, Amalia Holm stands out for an interpretation full of emotion and mystery. Here the narrative accelerates, perhaps too much. The choice to condense two books into five episodes inevitably leads to a hurry in solving the puzzles, leaving some outstanding issues. However, the fast pace does not compromise the tension, thanks to well-placed twists and a direction that knows how to make the most of the winter landscape to create a disturbing atmosphere. If there is one aspect that lies in The Åre Murders, it is the relationship between Hanna and Daniel.
While their professional collaboration works, with a credible alchemy in investigative dynamics, the attempt to insert a romantic tension between the two appears forced and little justified by the narration. The fact that Daniel is married and has just had a child makes this development not only superfluous but also inconsistent with its characterization, ending up undermining the public’s empathy towards the character. In a story already full of tension, intricate crimes, and landscapes full of atmosphere, the choice to introduce a potential love triangle seems more an element inserted by convention than a narrative necessity. The risk is that this subplot takes away space from much more interesting aspects, such as Hanna’s psychological deepening or her journey. In the end, instead of adding complexity to the story, this relationship risks appearing as an artificial device that distracts from the development of the main plot and the construction of the investigative plot. Despite some flaws, The Åre Murders proves to be a solid addition to the genre of the Nordic thriller, managing to balance its more classic elements with a suggestive setting and a compelling intertwining.
The series makes the most of the icy atmospheres and breathtaking locations, which become an integral part of the narration, helping to create a sense of isolation and restlessness perfect for the story. Photography and direction masterfully underline the contrast between Sweden’s natural beauty and the brutality of the crimes that upset the community. To make everything even more engaging is the construction of suspense, which develops effectively thanks to a well-balanced rhythm between moments of investigation and emotional tension. The cast does its part, with Carla Sehn offering an intense and multifaceted performance in the role of the protagonist, managing to convey both her determination and her frailties. If Netflix decided to continue with other seasons based on Viveca Sten’s novels, there would certainly be a lot of interesting material to explore. The narrative potential of the series is vast and, with further refinement of writing – perhaps avoiding forcing the dynamics between the characters – The Åre Murders could consolidate as a point of reference in the panorama of contemporary Nordic crime.
After The Mysteries of Sandhamn, another Sten literary saga thus becomes an adaptation to episodes. This time we are in Åre, a mountain town and a renowned Swedish ski resort located in the county of Jämtland, on the border with Norway. This is the background to the investigations of Stockholm detective Hanna Ahlander, away following a suspension for disciplinary reasons, and local police officer Daniel Lindskog, on two particularly complex cases related to the disappearance of a girl found later dead on the cable car and the murder of a man, whose body was found buried under the snow near the railway. However, the collaboration between the two investigators was not born in the best way because it was full of tension. On the one hand, Daniel is struggling with family challenges and with a police station short of staff, on the other the colleague is at a personal and professional crossroads, suspended from her work, and in the aftermath of a recent break, Hanna retires to his sister’s holiday home in Åre.
In short, a lot of meat on fire that was put by a couple of screenwriters formed by Karin Gidfors is Jimmy Lindgren in charge of giving continuity to the more than discreet work of the author of the books. The rewriting and adaptation phase, however, frustrates and depotentiates it, returning on the screen a product that is unable to satisfy the palate of lovers of the material and fans of the subgenre. By choosing to exhaust two distinct stories and as many horizontal lines in time and timing arcs quite limited compared to the real narrative and dramaturgical needs of the events dealt with, we end up compressing and crushing the plots, dynamics, and developments excessively, to reach hasty resolutions. This is the big limit of The Åre Murders, i.e. the speed with which we come to discover the truth and identify the culprits of criminal events. Consequently, those physiological times are useful for a mystery line to build the right tension and create a layered and compelling narration made of that intricate and engaging tangle of clues, suspicions, evidence, false tracks, sidings, and above all lost twists.
Everything is so predictable and easy to read that it takes very little to dissolve the weak thriller and crime skein at the base. This does not play in favor of the cause at all, which wants the projects genetically belonging to the vein to focus on the aforementioned factors to obtain noteworthy results. Here they are scarce and are not convinced. The main and secondary characters also pay the price, which once sketched, however, is not adequately outlined and deepened. There are therefore partial profiles, which lack three-dimensionality and a background sufficient to justify their thinking and actions. This is why both Hanna and Daniel, in addition to the gallery of figures that revolve around them, are flat and devoid of nuances, just enough to keep them emotionally distant. The interpreters, starting with Carla Sehn is Kardo Razzazi, for their part, try to give intensity and credibility to their respective characters and scenes, but the effort, as well as that of the directors behind the camera, is in vain.
The Åre Murders is a demonstration that not all donuts come out with the hole and that the much-celebrated Nordic Noir can also fail. Too bad because the starting material available to the screenwriters of the new Scandinavian crime series license plate Netflix had very interesting audiovisual potential. The two novels of the Swedish writer Viveca Stenchosen to give life to the show, are compressed and weakened narratively and dramaturgically, to the point of making the cases scarcely engaging, the predictable mystery weaves and the little in-depth characters. The bitterness remains in the mouth for an unexpressed potential, with a result that does not do justice to the skill of the actors involved, the solid thriller mechanisms of the literary matrices, and the technical skills of the directors involved.
During the last two episodes of The Åre Murders, we then follow the case of a man whose corpse is accidentally found under a layer of snow. Someone did it in small pieces. An arm here, a hand there, and so on. This second investigation is even more intricate than the first, placing a lot of meat on the fire before the eyes of the spectators who come out a little disoriented. Many, too many things happen. The spotlight moves to one of the secondary characters we had glimpsed in the first three episodes, Anton, a colleague of Daniel’s policeman. And then on a preacher, a separate mother, a friend of the victim, a lover, and even a child. This continuous change of attention, in which the cards on the possible culprits are stirred continuously, is certainly interesting because works like the domino effect. If you drop a piece, all the others are automatically touched, losing their balance and therefore their credibility. Just like in a community or a small group of people, where everyone is connected by an invisible and precarious thread.
However, the subplots of the various characters that are presented to us have not been developed enough. And that’s a real shame since some issues are also quite important. An example above all is the domestic violence suffered by a pregnant young woman. In addition to the difficulties of paternity, the crises within family relationships, the destructive power of jealousy or hypocrisy, and all those often-irrational behaviors that lead human beings to perform brutal acts. There are even gods’ explicit quotes from masterpieces of cinema and television such as Shining (the sequence with the ax) is Twin Peaks (the girl’s face covered in ice crystals is almost identical to Laura Palmer’s). The direction is therefore textbook, as is the suggestive scenography, but what is not convincing is precisely the lack of balance between the development of the events narrated and the time in which they occur. As if situations that require months and months of study can be solved with a simple snap of the fingers.
Despite this, The Åre Murders is a product that still manages to keep tension and anguish high. The credit is given to the pursuits, lies, and suspicions that lead the viewer not to recognize the true culprit in the end. Everything happens in that village framed by the mountains where darkness and isolation act as an added and effective ingredient in increasing public suspense. The Åre Murders, therefore, are a miniseries full of substance, like the yellows from which it is taken, but which leaves a little bitter in the mouth for the quick rhyme with which the narration proceeds. This is an oddity because usually, the Scandinavian people stand out for the peace and thoughtfulness with which they face anything. Both stories are presented in 5 episodes, typical of one crime series, they work and are interesting. But they are developed with the times and above all with the wrong rhythm. Hanna’s specialization in domestic violence, which acts as a conductor to narration, ends up becoming almost a secondary element. The change in relations between colleagues is forced, and rushed, as if all the characters were sent in jeopardy without careful study of the timing.
The feeling they return is precisely this, and it is a pity because I repeat, the realization is of excellent level. The use of photography is strongly symbolic: hot – even outside, in the snow, when everything is fine or about to resolve. Cold, both in the suggestive external and external environments – made of houses entirely of wood and full of heat – when history leads us to negative, frightening developments or events. Also, the choice of making you trust an agent with the latest arrival, after a long time without doing it with colleagues whom he has been attending for a much longer period, confirms the lack of balance in the script. Set in a ski resort on the border with Norway, the story focused on Hanna is taken from novels by Viveca Sten, but it does not have the proportion. The sense of measure and time. Too bad, because with a more careful, less hasty adaptation work, the result would have been superior: The Åre Murders is a good Nordic thriller but is lost in the lack of narrative balance.
From a technical point of view, the series stands out for its careful care of the shots and assembly. The landscape footage – with Åre which is revealed in all its glacial beauty – is worthy of an Impressionist painting. Photography, with calibrated lights and shadows to enhance that disturbing atmosphere typical of the Nordic Noir, makes you almost forget, for a moment, that you are sitting on the sofa of your house, in the heat, with a blanket on. And then there is the narrative rhythm: the series develops in five episodes which, unlike certain thrillers too “rushed”, know how to dose suspense in an almost surgical way. Yes, I admit it – the first few minutes may appear short and fragmented – but it is a well-balanced narrative device, the result of the adaptation of the first two novels in the series, “Hidden in Snow” and “Hidden in Shadows”. The three-part structure of the first episode works like a trampoline to immerse yourself in fluid and, above all, binge-able narration. Netflix, come on, hit the mark with the “feature play next episode”!
The Åre Murders Review: The Last Words
The Åre Murders is a Nordic thriller that mixes two compelling investigations with a suggestive setting. Divided into two main stories, the story follows policewoman Hanna Ahlander as she finds herself involved in mysterious murder cases in Åre. The narrative keeps tension high, even if it suffers from a hurry in the development of the second case. Excellent interpretations and a gloomy atmosphere make the series a must for lovers of the genre, despite some unsuccessful narrative elements. The stage is accurate and interpreters are very good (especially the protagonist Carla Sehn), but there is one lack of narrative balance that transforms an excellent product potential into one more than enough, but certainly not excellent. A more careful drafting of the script, which justifies the adequate presentation of the characters and the psychological dynamics that concern them, would have made the difference. Knowing what awaits us – 2 distinct stories, without proper study – it is easier to enjoy the vision.
Cast: Carla Sehn, Henrik Norlén, Aliette Opheim, Johannes Kuhnke, Samuel Fröler
Created By: Viveca Sten
Streaming Platform: Netflix
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3/5 (three stars)
The Åre Murders Review: An Irreverent Dive Into the Swedish Nordic Noir - Filmyhype
Director: Viveca Sten
Date Created: 2025-02-07 18:10
3
Pros
- Spectacular and suggestive setting
- Exciting and suspenseful texture
- Excellent interpretation by Carla Sehn
- Tight pace and perfect for binge-watching
Cons
- Second part too rushed
- Unconvincing relationship between the protagonists
- Some details left unsolved
