Undercurrent: The Disappearance of Kim Wall

"Undercurrent: The Disappearance of Kim Wall" (2022 release; 2 parts totaling 126 min.) is a documentary about the brutal murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall. As Part 1 "The Crime" opens, it is "August 10, 2017" as Kim Wall boards the submarine which Danish eccentric inventor Peter Madsen has built himself. She is doing a piece on him for Wired magazine. The submarine does not return to shore, and before too long, the Danish authorities start looking for it... At this point we are 10 min into Part 1.

Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from Erin Lee Carr, a widely respected and award-winning documentarian ("I Love You, Now Die"; "At the Heart Of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal"). Here she looks back at the savage (and worse) murder of Kim Wall by Peter Madsen. This 2 part documentary is like Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde. Part 1 feels hurried and aloof, certainly as compared to last year's excellent Danish 6 part mini-series "The Investigation", which truly conveys the efforts by the Danish authorities to tie Madsen to the murder. Then, just as surprising, Part 2 "The Punishment" is an excellent assessment what drove Madsen to do what he did (something that is barely addressed in "The Investigation"). Frankly, I was ready to bail on "Undercurrent" after the disappointing Part 1. Glad I decided to ride it our. Boottom line: if, like me, you have seen "The Investigation", you will not miss out on much if you skip Part 1 of "Undercurrent" and instead you go straight to Part 2.

"Undercurrent: The Disappearance of Kim Wall" recently premiered on HBO and is now available on HBO On Demand and HBO Max, where I caught it. If you are interested in true crime documentaries, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion, although for those of you who have seen "The Investigation", I'd go straight to Part 2.

This could've been captivating had it not been watered down with a slow pace and filler to stretch this into 2 episodes. Otherwise we'll done and worth watching.

While the subject matter is fascinating and the focus on Kim Wall as opposed to the murderer admirable, this documentary was stretched to bizarre lengths... and I can't fathom why. This would've worked much better as an 80-minute doc, and literally no content would have to be cut; only the endless slo-mo transitions would have to be trimmed.

The length really hurts the storytelling, as I felt myself lulled into boredom on multiple occasions. The content should drive the length; not the editor's love for overlong transitions.

It's really gross and sad to see reviews of this documentary that say it would have been better and could have been covered in less time if there was less focus on Kim's life, who she was as a person, and the people who loved her. Not only is that disgusting, but it also willfully ignores the point of telling these stories and, in fact, the entire point of this documentary (a point which was clearly expressed several times throughout). The point of true crime stories shouldn't be solely focusing on the killer and the crime. These stories shouldn't make the killers a household name while only focusing on the victim for as long as it takes to describe the worst day of their life. These stories need to show the other side of things- the void left in people's lives and in the world now that this person has been taken out of it. We know too many "famous" killers' names and yet next to nothing about their victims. This documentary does an amazing job of balancing the story and the trial with the human impact of Kim's death. It's just really pitiful that folks don't seem to have enough attention span for both.

Exceptionally well made documentary on the disappearance and murder of an innocent journalist.

What starts out as a harmless interview and tour of a home made submarine with its owner, the story turns into one of mystery when only 1 person returns from what was supposed to be a short 2 hour tour out to sea.

The story of what happens is well told with the story flipping back and forth between interviews with different people so it keeps you guessing as to what actually happened. When the details finally came out I just sat there with my jaw on the floor asking why??

The details of what happened is nothing short of disturbing. The reason 'why' is as dark as it is evil.

I found this short 2-part documentary one of the best movies I've ever seen. It kept me guessing then knocked me out when it revealed the details of what occurred. The plot would make excellent material for a fictional, thriller movie - only this is true.

Highly recommend.