The series Åremorden (The Åre Murders) is based on books by Viveca Sten. It provides a solid Swedish crime series. Police officer Hannah Ahlander (Carla Sehn) returns to Åre to find peace. When a young girl disappears, Hannah is quickly drawn into the investigation. She does everything she can to solve the case together with local police officer Daniel Lindskog (Kardo Razzazi). The reason Hannah is in Åre turns out to have to do with her personal and professional life. Unfortunately, this part of the story does not get the in-depth attention it actually deserves. As a result, it hangs over the market for a while, but it does not really lead to shocking consequences.
The same goes for the two cases that both police officers pick up. In just five episodes, two books by Viveca Sten are literally rushed through. It makes the stories feel rather rushed. The first three episodes are there for the disappearance, to be replaced by another case from the fourth episode onwards.
Unfortunately, Åremorden remains a bit stuck in mediocrity.
In addition, there is little real attention to the private lives of Daniel and Hannah. It does pass by, but because of the short scenes, the viewer is not really taken along in what is going on. Empathizing with the main characters remains difficult. Moreover, the tensions between the two, as is so often the case in this type of series, are very easily circumvented. That there will be a sequel, we can already predict.
In the category of fun entertainment it is fine, but for real excitement and thrills it is not good enough.
The series does score well on a number of other points. The inhospitable environment of Åre makes for fantastic images. Especially because the snowy plains give an extra dimension. In that sense, this is a typical Scandinavian crime series. It helps that nowadays drones can easily capture wide landscapes. It makes the background in which it takes place impressively captured.
Unfortunately, Åremorden remains somewhat stuck in mediocrity. The actors do their best, there is little to say about that. The story and the high speed in which it is told do not help them. If more time were invested in the underlying reasons why something happens, this would make the series much stronger. Now it remains more on the surface and we never really get the depth that can make a crime series special. Then it is also difficult for an actor to portray a special role. In the category of nice entertainment it is fine, but for real tension and sensation it is not good enough.
About the writer, Karzal
Mike (1995) has been a member of MySeries since 2016 and is mainly active on the English version of the site. Since 2018, he has been actively translating news articles, columns, reviews and basically everything that ends up on the Dutch site. The original articles, columns and reviews were actually written by others. During the week Mike can be found at IKEA, where he is a national systems specialist and occasionally also in the classroom to teach an English lesson. In addition, Mike logically enjoys watching series and has actually been spoon-fed this from an early age. The genre doesn't matter, there is a place for everything in the otherwise busy life.
