Nordic noir, also known as Scandinavian noir, is a genre of crime fiction usually written from a police point of view and set in Scandinavia or Nordic countries. Nordic dramas typically have a unique atmosphere, with dark and gloomy settings, captivating plots, and shocking twists. The sinister truths that are revealed in the investigative path of these movies and shows are what has popularized the subgenre, making massive hits out of shows like The Killing and The Bridge.
Due to such popularity, Nordic Noir has exploded outside its Scandinavian context, and inspired acclaimed remakes internationally along with similar shows (Broadchurch being a prominent example), transcending the Nordic origins but keeping its icy, grim atmosphere. It is now recognized and widely favored among an array of cultures worldwide, but the original Nordic noirs are often the best. Often bleak and very gritty, Nordic crime can send suspenseful chills down the backs of viewers, and not just because of its wintry, cold landscapes.
Updated February 22nd, 2023: With the recent launch of Viaplay, a streaming service which specializes in Nordic noir, we've updated the content and quality of this list to better reflect the wonderfully complex but intensely suspenseful world of Scandinavian crime dramas.
A new streaming service, Viaplay, has launched and caters directly to viewers' Nordic noir needs. Just as Britbox and Acorn offer international series focusing mostly on the UK, Viaplay gives access to Scandinavian series that are often difficult to find in the U.S. In advance of Viaplay's original premiere of Hilma, directed by the brilliant Lasse Hallström, let's take a look at some of the very best Nordic noirs.
9 The Chestnut Man (Kastanjemanden)
This Nordic Noir focuses on a serial killer in Copenhagen who leaves handmade figures made of chestnuts near each crime scene. The Chestnut Man is based on Søren Sveistrup's book of the same name, who may also be recognized from writing the popular Danish show, The Killing. The show was partly inspired, according to Sveistrup, by the annual tradition in Denmark of creating chestnut dolls.
The Chestnut Man (or Kastanjemanden) opens with the murder of an entire family on a remote farm in 1987. The viewers are brought to present day Copenhagen, Denmark, 30 years later where a young woman is found murdered at a playground with one of her hands missing. As Detective Naia Thulin and her partner, Mark Hess, investigate The Chestnut Man, the fingerprint of a missing child, the daughter of politician Rosa Hartung, is soon discovered. With all the ingredients for a perfect Nordic noir, The Chestnut Man (available on Netflix) is dark and grizzly right from the opening sequence, chilling, with a captivating detective story and a trail of gruesome murders for the viewers to attempt to solve themselves. If you want to see more shows like The Chestnut Man, then Equinox and The Forest will scratch that particular twist.
8 The Valhalla Murders (Brot)
RUV
As an eight episode police procedural series, The Valhalla Murders (or Brot) was originally aired in Iceland in 2019 but caught viewers eyes and was brought to Netflix in 2020 and BBC Four in the U.K. A police profiler named Arnar is assigned (alongside local senior cop, Kata) to Iceland's first ever serial murderer investigation after being transferred back to Iceland from Norway.
As they find it difficult to find a link between the killings, they slowly begin to connect the murders to an abandoned boys’ home named Valhalla, where horrible crimes were happened 35 years previously. The series is reportedly loosely based on a real story from the late '40s, where children between the ages of seven and 14 were horrifically beaten and abused by staff members of a state-run institution for troubled boys. Although, these events did not involve murder and this was a fictional addition in the series to create that extra gritty Nordic noir touch for viewers. Nonetheless, the quasi-fictional series is gripping, and available on Netflix.
7 The Bridge (Broen)
The Nordic noir crime television series The Bridge (or Broen) hooked audience immediately with its gripping narrative and unforgettable performances. The story opens with the discovery of a dead body in the middle of Øresund Bridge, the conduit between Sweden and Denmark. Two detectives, one from each country as they are assigned to the case, realize (as every great thriller goes) that not everything is what it seems.
Within a few hours, the story accelerates in tension, becomes increasingly mysterious and has keeps the audience guessing as they are taken on a journey of mystery, murder, and morbid storylines. The show was remade less successfully in America, along the border of Mexico and the United States, but the original (which is available through Plex, Prime Video, and YouTube) is fantastic.
6 Wallander
TV4
Wallander follows a motivated cop with a sensitive side, a character devoted to doing what’s right, even as he understands the damage it’s doing to his personal life. Even though he's dealing with a slew of personal issues, he still manages to charm his way into our hearts. As Wallander solves a series of violent and terrifying murders in Skåne, southern Sweden, the viewers are presented a show that is filled with plenty of Nordic Noir characteristics.
Tense atmospheres, paranoia, themes of social disintegration, and an obsessed cop that often works alone and risks it all to solve violent crimes — Wallander has all the classic tropes. The show was a smash hit in its own country, even spurring a British remake on BBC starring Kenneth Branagh. The Swedish Wallander is available through MHz Choice, which can be subscribed to through Prime Video and YouTube, and the British version can be watched through Britbox.
5 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
While there's a pretty great David Fincher Hollywood remake, nothing beats the original Swedish Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Breaking the mold, this Swedish Nordic Noir is dark, mysterious, and completely intriguing. If its audience can handle the intensity, it rewards its viewers with an engaging, incredibly effective and exceptionally made thriller. The story follows two polar opposite people: Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist, and Lisbeth Salander, a computer hacker with an unhappy past.
The two are brought together when they become enthralled in a 40-year-old mystery. Hired to investigate the old mystery involving the disappearance of a young girl nearly four decades prior, Blomkvist becomes aware that a shadowy woman is following his every move. The film captures the hidden toxicity of some men and the danger many women face, offering the viewer to find something new and sinister with every watch. As such a classic Nordic noir, two sequels, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, were released later the very same year. The film is available for free on Tubi and Crackle, and to stream and rent elsewhere.
4 Furia
Furia is a truly unique series (and a Viaplay original) from Gjermund Stenberg Eriksen, the Emmy-winning creator of Mammon, Pakt, and Livstid. While many Nordic noir series delve into ethical ambiguity and hidden immoralities, Furia jumps headfirst into moral relativity in a suspenseful way.
A troubled cop (played by Pål Sverre Hagen) has moved to a new, idyllic little town in Western Norawy to escape the past, but of course, a gruesome murder eventually occurs. Eventually, he and a woman (a truly magnetic Ine Marie Wilmann) stumble into a complicated terrorist plot by far-right extremists. It'd be a shame to ruin the secrets and suspense of Furia, but suffice it to say that the Viaplay series is increasingly relevant, intense, and special.
3 Deadwind (Karppi)
Deadwind (or Karppi) is a Finnish crime series and modern murder mystery in the Nordic noir vein, following Sofia Karppi, a recently widowed detective of the Finnish police. She is assigned to the case of the murder of Anna Bergdahl. While it seemed like Anna had no enemies, Karppi quickly realizes that everyone has a lot to hide. So, who murdered Anna? In true Nordic noir style, the focus is as much on the detectives and their lives as the crime they are trying to solve. With the tension growing with each series (available on Netflix), and plenty of gripping twists and turns that keep the viewers on their toes.
2 Trom
Viaplay
The crime series Trom, which is available on Viaplay, comes from the unique setting of the Faroe Islands, a territory that's part of Denmark. The series mixes Faroese with Danish and English, and stars Ulrich Thomsen (familiar to American audiences for The Blacklist and Banshee) as a journalist pursuing the truth about an animal rights activist who claims to be his daughter. The melancholic mystery takes great advantage of its unique settings in whaling and fishing villages like Tórshavn, Velbastaður, Gjógv, and Tjørnuvík, and draws a lot of gravity from the performances of Thomsen and Olaf Johannessen (a legend of Nordic television who has starred in The Killing, The Bridge, and Borgen).
1 The Killing (Forbrydelsen)
Originally broadcast in 2007 in its native Denmark and 2011 in the UK (and then on AMC in America), The Killing (or Forbrydelsen) can be seen as one of the most influential crime dramas of all time. Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Lund is supposed to be on her last day with the Copenhagen police force, but everything changes when 19-year-old Nanna Birk Larsen is found brutally murdered. Of course, The Killing was so loved because viewers became captivated by the compelling characters.
We couldn't tear ourselves away from Sarah Lund, the appealingly dysfunctional detective and were blindsided by the shattering grief of Nanna's parents. The series is noted for its paranoia and suspicion, plot twists within the storylines, dark tone, and emphasis to the stories of the murdered victim's family and the effect on the detective. The series is streaming on Topic, a subscription of which is available through Prime Video and YouTube.