Händelser vid vatten - Season 1

Händelser vid vatten (Blackwater) is more of a family drama than a typical series about solving a murder.

Although an unsolved murder is central, Händelser vid vatten is much more about its consequences. These consequences emerge in full force when new incidents occur after eighteen years. These events have a clear link to the past. This means that the main characters of the murders in 1973 also claim a leading role in 1991.



Annie (Asta Kamma August, Sygeplejeskolen) arrives in Blackwater, Sweden, with her young daughter in 1973. She is on her way to her great love, who turns out to live in a commune. When Annie is not picked up for the last part of her journey, she sets off independently with her daughter. During that trip she discovers a murder of a young couple. They stayed in a tent in the middle of the wilderness but were brutally killed. This image will haunt Annie all her life. When someone from the past shows up in 1991, Annie (Pernilla August, Young Royals) is confronted with this trauma again. This leads to new mysteries that need to be unraveled.

Although an unsolved murder is central, Händelser vid vatten is much more about its consequences.

In addition to Annie, the other main characters from 1973 play a role again. The vast wilderness in which the story takes place plays a breathtaking role. It produces beautiful images. It also helps that both stories take place during Midsummer Night. The result is that it is constantly daytime. It helps, just like the images shot and the sometimes somewhat obscure story, to create a depressing atmosphere. Furthermore, the acting is excellent. All this ensures that the zeitgeist of the seventies and nineties is well captured. In addition, a lot of attention has been paid to the aging of the various people who play a leading role. Everyone is clearly getting older physically and relationships have changed over the years. All those stories do have a central point, the murders in 1973.



Händelser vid vatten is therefore much more of a drama than a typical search for who did it. The makers even go so far as to bring out an entire family of actors. In addition to the aforementioned Asta and Pernilla, Alba August (The Rain) also plays an important role in this drama. From the point of view that this is a family drama that takes place in two different periods, Handel's film can be called a success. However, if you expect a typical Scandinavian crime series, you will be disappointed. This is much more about the consequences and the dramas that have shaped the various characters than solving the murder.

Unfortunately, the series has a somewhat half-hearted ending.

Unfortunately, the series has a somewhat half-hearted ending. While a lot of attention is paid to building characters, the makers pay too little attention to solving the murders. In order to give a place to these murders, a somewhat unbelievable ending is invented that does not fit the mysterious atmosphere that has been created. The nice, slowly built-up mystery and the characters with their own secrets and habits are thus considerably destroyed. Too bad the writers and producers didn't do more with that. Better to leave the murder unsolved and leaving us as viewers in amazement than this put together whole.