The Valhalla Killer, originally created by RUV, Iceland’s national broadcaster, premiered in Iceland in 2019 and is now on Netflix. The series, consisting of eight episodes, takes place in iceland’s capital Reykjavik.
The series involves a police detective, Kata, tasked with investigating a murder that quickly becomes a serial killer case. She teamed up with Arnar, a detective who normally works in Oslo.
- Working together.
- They discover not only the perpetrator.
- But also the motives for the murders.
- Which leads them to a network of corruption at very high political levels.
The rhythm of The Killer of Valhalla allows the viewer to see the development of incredible research that appears to be linked to the Valhalla Youth Center closed 30 years ago, a series with several twists and turns in an unknown Iceland.
The Valhalla Killer offers exactly what you expect. It’s interesting, though slow, and there’s never a dull moment, including its sub-parameters. Broken families and child abuse are the central themes of the series.
In history, Arnar must struggle with her own past, while Kata must fight to regain her son’s trust. The series examines the extent of sexual abuse of children and adolescents (through two plots), including victims and survivors.
With his sincere desire to be more than a series of detectives, The Valhalla Killer takes his time and patiently develops his plot, as demonstrated in the first episode, dedicated exclusively to the kata character.
This ambitious inspector, whose efforts are not recognized in her post, is forced to work with an Oslo researcher named Arnar (Bjorn Thors). Detectives will have to learn to work together to find out what happened in Valhalla several years ago and capture the serial killer.
Despite presenting a very simple scenario, the series includes scenes that allow to better understand the motivations of the two main characters, their complementarity is particularly evident thanks to the outstanding performances of the talent of N. A.
While some revelations are predictable, most spins redistribute cards in surprising ways and manage to project a tension that increases to the last episode.
The series ends up getting lost in sub-plots, abandoned along the way, such as the appearance of a dark video on Kata’s son’s phone or the relationship between Arnar and her sister.
However, the tracks are interesting at the base, which could have brought a little more complexity to the characters, but that, in the end, seems like just a fill to fulfill the whole purpose of the series: that appearances deceive.
Behind the apparent tranquility lie the atrocities that all preferred to bury deeply and forget. On Detective Arnar’s side is his relationship with his extremist religious family.
On the other hand, we have the fragmented relationship between Kata and her son, as a central element is the memory of the horror of the children of valhalla, victims of an atrocious system, perpetrator and accomplice of a network of paedophiles. .
Surprisingly, the Valhalla murders took place in Iceland, one of the countries with one of the lowest crime rates in the world. The purity of pristine landscapes contrasts with the horror of the crimes Kata and Asnar discover during their investigation.
The series knows how to take advantage of this structure. The cold, gray, almost icy photography seems taken from neo-black films and enlarges the exterior sets, giving the series an even darker look, intensified by the Pétur Ben soundtrack.
The Valhalla Killer tackles difficult issues such as abuse, neglect and pedophilia, but does so in a responsible manner, showing how victims try to survive after going through these events. Therefore, add more depth to the story and characters. This investigation reveals deep secrets and affects all those who are trying to remake their lives after what happened.
This series is Netflix’s first co-production with Iceland, is well produced and has a solid script, but does not have the magic of Trapped’s success, the creator, Thordur Palsson, found a good balance in his first series.
While this adds nothing new to the Nordic-black genre, characterized by assassins, snow, and quirky detectives, it’s a well-built thriller because its eight chapters contain the essentials of what should be a mysterious murder case with a great drama in the background. .