The Hunt for a Killer

Melancholic & methodical. Slow & non-spectacular. The objective, slow-panning camera tells the bleak True Crime-story masterfully.

This six part series tells the real life story of the hunt to catch the murderer of ten year old Helen Nilsson. The officer place in charge of the investigation has no experience of murder cases and makes little progress as his team is flooded with information from members of the public reporting every slightly odd person in the area. Experienced investigator Per-Åke Åkesson is keen to be given the case but those in charge refuse his request. As he notices similarities with other crimes he starts running a parallel unofficial investigation alongside Monica Olhed and another officer. Years pass and still the police are no closer to the killer; to make things worse Per-Åke's bosses seem more interested in form filling than crime solving.

I found this to be a gripping series; it shows how different things are in reality to fictional crime drama... a serious case runs for years and years without serious suspects emerging and the petty bureaucracy which expects police to plan a year in advance despite the nature of crime making that ludicrous. Unlike fiction every new murder is a very real tragedy. The cast do a really good job giving realistic understated performances. Overall an impressive series; definitely worth watching even if it is quite depressing at times.

These comments are based on watching the series in Swedish with English subtitles.

For such an understated production this drama had me absorbed by every episode. The whole feel and look was from the time the drama was set (1989-2004) and the unfamiliar ensemble added to to the authenticity. There are no subplots, it is just police work, illustrating the difficulty and frustrations of the job. The seedy side of life and the way some people live was cleverly filmed by getting the point across without having to be too graphic. It is all the better for being based on real events, so there are no plot holes and inconsistencies that seem to be prevalent in dramas these days.

Best Swedish crime serie I have ever seen. So real and intense in slow Scandinavian way. I hope the last episode is going to be good as the whole serie have been. Just excellent.

This is far by the best Swedish Police series, about true crimes. Please make season 2, season 3...it's very good to evertbody to remember these victims and cases. The reality must be seen. People have to learn to take more precaution now days. Thanks for this series. RIP to all the victims. 🌹