Nordic thrillers to watch online

Accident investigator Marita Kaila arrives in a small town devastated by tragedy: a train derailment, an explosion in the rail yard, and a burned-down station have left over sixty dead. Now, she must uncover what went wrong.

Despite doing well in more intense dramatic films like 'The Hunt' and 'Drunk: Another Round', Danish star Mads Mikkelsen has also found plenty of room in a more loose and unpretentious action cinema. This is the case with 'Retfærdighedens ryttere'. Directed by Anders Thomas Jensen, of 'Between Good and Evil', the feature film dives into the story of a soldier who loses his wife in an accident that seems to be connected to the local mafia. Full of violence and breathtaking scenes, 'Retfærdighedens ryttere' shows this "shoot, beat and bomb" side of Mikkelsen, who proves himself once again as one of the most versatile actors in cinema.

This Nordic thriller is able to, like few movies, create suspense and dread through a lack of information, from what we don't see - and by what we slowly start to uncover. The story begins when a policeman on emergency call duty receives a phone call from a kidnapped woman. With few clues about the case, stuck in a closed room and without help from his superiors, a search for her liberation starts. With a great script (with its twists), good soundtrack (which helps to create the atmosphere) and impeccable acting from the protagonist, 'Culpa' is recommended for those who enjoy a good mystery procedural.

Enforcement (Shorta) is a Danish thriller full of tension, with a raw, acidic and realistic narrative. At several moments it reminds us of works such as La Haine or Les Miserables by Ladj Ly. The narrative follows two police officers on patrol in a marginalized neighborhood of Copenhagen when the death of an Arab youth in police custody is reported. The tension boils and explodes, and in no time the neighborhood where the police officers are is taken over by protests, and the environment becomes completely unhealthy and dangerous for the two police officers. With this composed scenario, we are led to an action and survival thriller during a long night, where the predator becomes the prey and the two characters and one adolescent taken into custody with them must escape from this urban labyrinth of violence. Equipped with very well choreographed scenes, beautiful cinematography and a constant crescendo of tension that does not let the viewer breathe, the movie is a great piece of genre. Its greatest trump card, however, is its sociopolitical positioning, which does not put the police officers in a false perspective of heroism, and very well portrays the nuances and implications of all the confrontation generated by racial tension, avoiding the stereotypical marginalization of social groups, on the contrary, making a raw representation of police violence. The feature was screened at several festivals, including Venice and Rotterdam.

A very smart and intriguing Norwegian production - which uses metaphors to discuss life themes such as religion - with references to great cinema classics like Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Birds', the mystery of the movie is very well built. Another highlight is the performance of Eili Harboe (from 'The Wave').