THE VALHALLA MURDERS | WE’VE BEEN WATCHING
Rhonda Lee Reali has been watching this recent hit Icelandic noir and here’s what she thinks. Contains spoilers near the end, fairly warned be thee!
The Valhalla Murders – original title Brot; translating as ‘violation’ – is yet another Nordic noir to hit our screens, launching on Netflix earlier this year and now screening on BBC 4. This latest offering is hit and miss, though.
It opens with Kata (played by Nina Dogg Filippusdottir), a cop, in a covered boat being towed by a car. She’s disoriented, but reaching for a wrench. Flashback to eight days earlier, when a middle-aged drug dealer named Thor is found murdered on a Reykjavik dock. He’s been stabbed several times in his torso and eyes: not your run-of-the-mill homicide/robbery. Another killing takes place – same MO, but this victim is an investment banker, the polar opposite of Thor.
A serial killer? That’s something the Icelandic police don’t have experience in, so Police Commissioner Magnus informs Kata he’s requested a helping hand – profiler Arnar (Björn Thors), hometown boy made good and now living in Oslo. Kata is not thrilled with this news, but has no say in the matter. She and Arnar don’t initially gel: he’s pretty dour, not there to make friends, just wanting to do the job. It emerges that he’s been trying to put distance between a tortured family life, while divorcee detective Kata is herself having issues with her high-schooler son and has been passed up for a promotion.
More evidence to connect the two murders is discovered: a photo of a dozen boys and a few adults, posing outside a building once known as Valhalla Boys Home where they were residents and staff respectively. (The Valhalla Murders is inspired by an actual institution in 1940s Iceland, where boys were beaten and abused in other ways.) There’s also the business of a cold case involving the discovery of a boy’s skeleton, like the photo dating from over 30 years ago.
The plot isn’t groundbreaking, or even especially original (hello Hinterland), but the story is twisty, and the acting’s excellent in that low-key Scandinavian way. Writer/director Thordur Palsson and his team do keep your interest; it’s the stupid mistakes and decisions Arnar and Kata make that’s the main problem, hence the writing let-down. Both of them going alone into empty buildings with no back-up, in the dark with teeny torches and no guns – with a serial killer on the loose? (Apparently, police in Iceland are only allowed to use firearms when someone’s life is in danger, so the weapons are kept in a lockbox in the boot, but still!)
Pacing problems materialise, too. The end is rushed, with unanswered questions. Not as scenic as The Flatey Enigma, another Icelandic import, The Valhalla Murders does have its moments on this front via some nice mountain shots, but mostly centres on dreary Reykjavik and its suburbs.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
There’s so many cock-ups, especially concerning Kata, I half expected the Keystone Cops to bumble in. What’s up with supposedly-fit Arnar being unable to catch a fleeing suspect, or letting a man at least twice his age overpower him, despite numerous shots of him out running every day? Having an overnight guest in his hotel room, with the case info/photos all over a wall for said guest to see, feels amateurish on his part too.
And veteran Kata looks like she needs more training before she’s ready to handle a gun – indeed, when she does get her hands on one, she walks into a hostage situation which Arnar has under control, acts like she’s going to shoot the place up, and ultimately gets knocked out and disarmed. She also goes to State Prosecutor Petur’s house at night, without letting Arnar know, and accepts a drug-adulterated drink from him. Duh! If I suspected him, why didn’t she?
There’s other questionable behaviour, but you can spot that for yourselves…
The Valhalla Murders is now available on BBC iPlayer for next five months.
words RHONDA LEE REALI
