The Burning Girls

I really did love The Burning Girls! Loved the cast, loved the characters, loved premise, loved the location and loved the supernatural elements. By about the second or third episode I was starting to worry that there might be too many plots and subplots on the go for 6 episodes, but all of the stories intertwined and came to an extremely satisfying conclusion. I watch a fair amount of mystery dramas, and I am always incensed when I reach the final episode only to discover the main murder was actually an accident. This obviates the need for a proper motive and is extremely lazy writing. You will not get this with The Burning Girls, there are motives galore (even if some of them stretched my credulity a little bit). The Burning Girls follows a tried and true crime/mystery drama formula, while throwing in a spoonful of Wicker Man, Happy Valley, The Exorcist and a pinch of Scandi noir. It worked for me and I have given it full marks, as I cannot image a more enjoyable example of the genre.

I was sceptical about this show but wow it left my mind blown, very clever series and I most certainly did not see that huge twist coming in the last episode! I would go as far as saying this is the best series I have watched in a long time.

Loved the fact it had a very small but impressive cast, very cleverly produced and the writer should also take so much credit for writing a masterpiece.

Samantha Morton is one of my favourite actresses and she did not disappoint in this show, I was also super impressed with Conrad Khan, he played his role so well and he has a great future in front of him.

If you are in the mood for a thriller mystery, then I think this is above average, but not spectacular. Admittedly, I am a bit biased because I enjoy, and purposely watch most all of Samantha Morton's work where she gets to stand out. The first episode was a little soft getting into it and I was concerned she was going to have a bit of a vapid character role, but in episode 2 and beyond it gets a bit more engaging and we see a little more expected contribution. I had figured out about 60 percent of the mystery pretty quick, but there is enough concealment to keep some surprises at the end that fits together well and makes a good mini-series binge.

Samantha Morton is brilliant as always, but the messy sub-plots and indecisive supernatural story line create too many loose ends and unanswered questions.

The motivation of most of the various murderous and sadistic characters are not explained, nor are most of their actions.

The supernatural visions of burning girls, ghosts, the dead rabbit / bird theme, lights going out and doors banging shut, and the cursed village plot in general, is clearly designed to build suspense and keep viewers watching, but then is left dangling with zero explanation, other than a brief moral subplot.

This is a decent rainy Sunday slow burner with a bit of a twist, but overall has a frustrating finish and is ragged around the edges.

Hans Rosenfeldt and Camilla Ahlgren have been my favorite screenwriters ever since I watched The Bridge (Bron / Broen). The Burning Girls was announced last year and I had great expectations for this serie because of Mr. Rosenfeldt and Ms. Ahlgren. Believe me this serie has one of the biggest shocking endings that you can ever watch. I was not able to guess it and I had zero clue that the serie would end like that. You need to watch this serie carefully because there are so many deaths in a town that is believed to be cursed because of the inquisition events that took during the mid 15th century. Each death is somehow connected to a certain time period that has an impact for the future. It is like almost like a circle. I vote this serie 9 out of 10. It worths it believe me and watch it !