The Hunt for a Killer

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.

In Sweden, the horrific muder of a young girl in the 1980s took almost 20 years to solve. Other murders (just one of which proved to be linked) and departmental politics obstructred progress; but one thing that 'The Hunt of a Killer', a dramatisation of the police investigation, shows is just how difficult it can be to find the evidence needed to close a case. It's an unmelodramatic reconstruction, and in many ways a depressing one: the killer was a lone actor and societal misfit, whose behaviour was alarming in many respects but which went unchecked while his darkest deeds remained hidden. As at a least a semi-normal person, it's horrifying to see what human beings are capable of if allowed to go far enough wrong.

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.

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.

I am not one to give a 10 . But it cannot be anything less. All actors are good, no, great. And It's just the way it was at the time. Scary to see all the incompetence within the police, and the envy of those good cops from the mediocre. All the ridicolus blue tape. I guess it was about this time Swedish police startet going downhill. Today they solve 10% of murders. Against 90% in the neighbouring countries.

It's very scary, because it could happen to me. In my house.