Beforeigners
2019
Original language: Norwegian
- drama
- sci-fi & fantasy
The story
In the near future a new phenomenon starts happening all over the world with powerful flashes of light occurring in the ocean and people from the past mysteriously reappearing. Called "beforeigners," these people come from three separate time periods: the Stone Age, the Viking era and late 19th century. A couple of years later, Alfhildr – who comes from the Viking Age – has to partner up with a burned-out police officer, Lars Haaland, to investigate the murder of a beforeigner. The pair begins to unravel a larger conspiracy behind the origin of the mysterious mass arrivals.
What it’s like
Cold, overcast daylight over a rain-darkened Oslo, with grey-blue interiors, wet pavement and dim lamplit offices, gives the series a chilly, understated look. The camera tends to hold on people in ordinary rooms and quiet streets rather than rushing through set pieces, and the score stays sparse, so the silences carry weight. The mood is melancholy and wry, a slow-burn crime procedural where unease builds gradually and the humour comes from a stranger's bafflement at modern life. A burned-out detective and a woman from the Viking Age work their way through a conspiracy, and their partnership develops with patience, through awkwardness, mistrust and grudging respect. Violence is present but occasional, with a murder investigation at its centre and some scenes of drug addiction handled with a grim realism rather than spectacle. Expect dread and sadness more than gore. It suits a grey weekend, a late evening alone, or anyone who likes Nordic noir with a speculative twist and social commentary about migration, belonging and outsiderness.
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