Police inspector Carl Mørck is put in charge of a department of cold cases, joined only by his assistant, Assad. They dig into a case about a disappeared woman.

A Scandinavian crime thriller from the screenwriter of the original film version of ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’, ‘The Keeper of Lost Causes‘ is a bleak and gritty crime movie that overcomes its formulaic story with strong acting and strong taut direction that ramps up the tension throughout. The story follows Carl (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), a homicide detective who has been off the job since an incident where he entered a house without backup, resulting in the death of one of his colleagues, and the permanent injury to another. On his return, he’s assigned to the basement to work through cold cases, with the expectation he can close 2 or 3 a week with the help of his new colleague, Assad (Fares Fares).

As this is a crime story, this is not how things play out, and when Carl stumbles upon the case of a politician who apparently committed suicide by jumping off a moving ferry 5 years previously, he focuses all his attention in one direction. Carl is a stereotypical ‘damaged’ cop character, with a broken marriage, a drinking problem and a constant scowl, but the script and the direction manages to keep him interesting, largely by using Assad as a bit of lighter comic relief. The story itself is an enjoyably twisty crime thriller, and whilst the conclusion is a little far fetched, the tension and the suspense in getting there makes this a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Mikkel Nørgaard

Starring: Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Fares Fares and Sonja Richter

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2438644/