The Åre Murders

As Episode 1 of "The Are Murders' (2025 release from Swe3den; 5 episodes ranging from 35 to 57 min) opens, 17 yo Amanda is at a house party in the remote town of Are, Sweden, and then leaves the party. In a parallel story that same evening, we are introduced to Hanna, of the Stockholm PD. Hanna has taken a two months' leave of absence and is driving towards the cabin of her sister's, in Are. Next morning, Amanda is missing... At this point we are less than 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this TV mini-series is based on the Swedish book series "Hidden in Snow" (which covers the first 3 episodes) and "Hidden in Shadows" (which covers the last 2 episodes) by Viveva Sten. The connection between the two separate stories is Hanna, the Stockholm cop who shows up in Are looking to get away of whatever troubled her in the Swedish capital. The two stories are plot-heavy, so the less said of that, the better. I will simply say that I quite liked the first story "Hidden in Snow", and rate it 7/10. It does not prepare you for the second story "Hidden in Shadows", which absolutely blew me away, and which I rate 9/10, hence my overall rating of this mini-series of 8/10. The (for me no-names) cast is terrific throughout. "The Are Murders" is no-nonsense and gritty, and quite dark (in particular in the second story). I was hooked from start to finish. Now we hopefully await the further adventures of Hanna in the next book(s) from Ms. Sten...

"The Are Murders" started streaming on Netflix about a week ago, and I watched the 5 episodes over 2 evenings. The is currently rated 81% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and there is ample reason for that. If you love a top-notch crime series set in Sweden, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Cinematography and scenery is beautiful and lifts the crime series. We want to see more of this, maybe some episodes from the Norwegian border ? I live in Trondheim, Norway, and Åre is close to this city. Åre is the major alpine sports ski resort in Sweden and also popular place to visit by Norwegians. Åre is close to Norwegian border.

Now, about the series.

It is a more like a Crime Drama. The swedes are good at making "Dark Crime" TV series. The "Beck" crime series should serve as a benchmark for quality in the genre of crime series from Sweden. Despite financial backing from Netflix to create the series, it comes a bit short. Maybe I would expect it to be more scary and exciting. Instead, it feels a bit boring and drama oriented. Don't expect that much excitement in the series. There are some car chasing, but the overall script for possible future episodes of the series should focus more on less drama and more action.

One of the criticisms the series gets is that it's 3 stories in one mini series that's because it's based on more than one book. Maybe it would have been better to let all the cases carry them self out one at a time but it might be to slow then.

I think this is worth watching even though some of the actors are over acting and doesn't get a realistic portrayal.

The good part with the series is that the plots makes sense and are realistic. It's to common that the plots are so twisted that they get loopholes these days. Things like these are the common cause of homocide and not a psychotic serial killer.

Abusive husband busting through a hotel door with an axe to assault his wife and child? Sounds familiar. But it's just a throwaway scene in this rather odd procedural/Scandinoirish series. It's supposed to be a 5-episode season but it's more like two seasons of 3 and 2 episodes respectively, as they pertain to the investigations of unrelated cases. Brevity is the soul of wit or something, and kudos to the show for being efficient and economical. I admit I'm the first to gripe when shows pad the runtime with extraneous twists and goofy red-herrings. Here, however, the show goes to the inverse extreme since the investigations are so truncated and straightforward that their resolutions are banal; plus the characters don't get quite enough development to make an impression.

I agree with the other reviewers, the problem with the series is the script. The location is beautiful and it's nice to have a series not set in Stockholm or Malmo or.... In general I have no problem with the cast. Episodes 1-3 are one story, 4 & 5 a second story.

Hanna is a stereotype of a green detective who goes off on her own and doesn't take orders from her senior partner. She has maturing to do and admits that she should have waited and not gone alone. One would think after her recent Stockholm experience, that she'd look before she leaps.

I'm a big fan of the "Beck" series set in Stockholm, that series has a really good cast and superior scripts. This is not a Beck, but it's better than some other Swedish police procedurals..

I'm also a fan of "Sandhamn Murders" also from Viveca Sten mystery novels. Different cast, writers and different production companies. I'd like to see more Swedish crime dramas from Netflix.