Thanks to the eager curiosity for content on streaming services like Netflix, the subgenre of television and film known as Nordic noir is everywhere, and it's the type of gritty, grim atmospheric television that will appeal to viewers who thrive off a touch of detective drama. Fans love to get totally enthralled in solving the case alongside the detectives and the genre reached worldwide popularity with series like The Bridge and The Killing. However, there is plenty more to offer on the genre, especially with Netflix increasing its international content, so let’s have a look at some other fantastic Nordic noirs you can find on Netflix.
7 Ragnarök
Netflix's Norwegian fantasy drama series, Ragnarök, is set in a fictional Norwegian town called Edda. The town suffers with climate change and industrial pollution caused by the factories owned by a local family. When a teenage boy moves back to the town with his mother and brother, he starts to display superhuman abilities and learns that he is the reincarnation of Thor and begins the fight against those who are destroying the planet.
The story builds and becomes increasingly more tense as we discover more about the town’s dark secrets and the main character’s emerging abilities. Both the narrative and stylistic choices are cleverly woven together, and the setting is stunning amongst Norway’s beautiful scenery, which is an important feature of the show. Ragnarok is unique in that it tackles the popular superhero genre, something unusual for Nordic noir, but maintains the dark atmosphere, small-town secrecy, and conspiratorial, melancholic atmosphere.
6 Midnight Sun
When a French man is discovered dead attached to a helicopter near the city of Kiruna in Lapland, Sweden, the police send out a female agent to uncover the crime. However, as the sun does not set during the 76 days of 'the midnight sun,' focusing on the case proves to be difficult. Midnight Sun instantly captured audiences with its classic whodunit, but gradually reeled us in with an even more compelling why-dunit. With the traditionally bleak and gritty atmosphere of classic Nordic noir, the series questioned viewers' ethics and morality, as the more that is revealed, the more shocked we are left. It is a brilliant thriller with, of course, beautiful Scandinavian landscapes.
5 Bordertown
Fitting perfectly into the classic Nordic noir genre, Netflix offers us a Finnish crime show, Bordertown. Following inspector Kari Sorjonen, moving his family to Lappeenranta, a Russian border town in Finland, we watch as his wife desires a peaceful life after surviving cancer, which in true Nordic noir fashion, is never the case. Not only does the audience get brought along the investigations of horrendous crimes, but the show also tackles the problems the family face, settling into a new town. This can be just as gripping and brings the series together to form an extremely tense and dark atmosphere, with some of the most emotionally devastating moments of the usually icy genre.
4 Those Who Kill
This Danish crime show follows the work of the Copenhagen police (in terms of what they investigate, well, the title gives it away). As a homicide detective and a forensic psychologist try to solve violent crimes, mostly by notorious serial killers, the audience are left with a mysterious and sinister feeling as they are shown different and confusing perspectives. Those Who Kill is disturbing, bringing a lot of tension in a race against time and allows the audience to see behind the scenes of catching a killer. Both the 2011 Danish version and the 2019 Danish reboot are excellent, though Chloe Sevigny's A&E version was merely decent, despite some strong performances.
3 Trapped
This horrifically intense and claustrophobic Icelandic series is a rollercoaster of crime. When two Nigerian sisters enter off the ferry claiming to be victims of human trafficking, police officer Hinrika realizes that there is a serious crime happening. To make it even worse, the body of a man is discovered, and the small Icelandic town are shaken up in a disaster of human trafficking, murder, and domestic violence.
The audience is dragged into shocking plot twists and intriguing characters in Trapped, as it holds all the juicy and gritty characteristics of a classic Nordic noir: bleak and gloomy scenery, a mysterious and unusual murder, and great characters, including the unforgettable, darkly troubled detective.
2 Quicksand
Netflix's Swedish miniseries Quicksand is a heartbreaking romantic tragedy that will have the viewer in tears. The beginning of the show is shocking already, opening on the immediate aftermath of a school shooting. As the camera pans over the pools of blood and dead bodies, we hear the shots and screams and are immediately hooked on what is happening next. Eventually, as we see the terrified face of one of the students, Maja, we begin the process of trauma and grief with her, but Maja's ending is not what we expect.
Quicksand deliberately holds information to keep the viewers intrigued and ready for a dramatic ending, and you can't help but end up completely emotionally involved in this certifiable tearjerker. Despite the events that unfold throughout the series are horrifying, it is impossible to look away as we are taken on a disastrous journey of a charming, yet dangerous relationship and shows us scenarios that are actually quite realistic.
1 Caliphate
Caliphate is a unique series that takes Nordic noir and globalizes it. The show is based on the real-life case of the Bethnal Green trio, where three teenage girls from London met jihad recruiters at their high school. The series follows multiple characters including Fatima, who is a Swedish Security Service agent; Pervin, a young Swedish woman lured into Syria; and Sulle, a teenager gets groomed by the Islamic State/ISIL.
The story begins in Syria with some women who are being called into a square. A man is dragged to a table and the women are told to look away. Then the audience are completely shocked to find that the man's lower arm is cut off. The drama surrounding the girls becomes more dominant throughout the series, and it is impossible to stop yourself getting emotionally engaged in their tragic stories. The entirely shocking eight-part thriller is definitely an edge-of-the-seat series, with dark themes of terrorism, women's rights, trauma, abuse, and the human condition.