Perfume
2018
Original language: German
- crime
The story
When a singer is found murdered, with her scent glands excised from her body, detectives probe a group of friends who attended boarding school with her.
What it’s like
Muted, cool-toned interiors and rain-dimmed city streets give this German crime drama a damp, unsettled look, with close handheld framing that keeps the detectives near their suspects. The score stays low and atmospheric, letting ambient room sound and long silences carry the tension. Its vibe is somber, watchful and faintly claustrophobic, the kind of show that suits a late evening alone or a dark, overcast weekend. The pacing is deliberate, built around interview rooms, old friendships and the slow reopening of a boarding-school past, so the emotional register is guarded and tense rather than thrilling. Its people are tangled and often unlikeable, their arcs following suspicion, guilt and buried loyalties. Intensity is moderate to high: the central murder is grisly, with a body and a crime scene shown in unsettling detail, and there are adult themes, sexual content and interpersonal cruelty throughout, but little sustained gore beyond the investigation itself. It is not gentle viewing. It is for viewers who want a serious, moody mystery that treats the cast's private histories as seriously as the case.
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