Explore the creepiest woods in Scandinavia with Jordskott

Jordskott goes beyond the usual Nordic Noir scenario with a very...specific...twist...

Jordskott is streaming now at SBS On Demand. Source: SBS On Demand

You have to feel sorry for the people working in Scandinavian tourism sometimes. It’s a beautiful part of the world, with so many engaging visitor attractions and natural wonders, as well as delicious cuisine and amazing people – and would probably be wonderful to visit if it wasn’t for all the gruesomely inventive murders...

Jordskott (which literally translates as “earth shot”) manages to achieve the holy grail of television drama: an opening scene that immediately tells you everything you need to know about its world, its main character and what you can expect going forward. From the first moment, it’s impossible to know which way the hostage situation we’re dropped into is going to go, and you can feel the adrenaline of all parties involved.

Then, things escalate in a very different way to what we’re expecting.

In the first episode we learn that seven years after her daughter’s mysterious disappearance by a lake, police detective Eva Thörnblad (Moa Gammel) is still seeing little Josefine in her dreams every night. And so when she has to return to her home town of Silverhöjd in the wake of her estranged father’s death, she becomes obsessed with the recent disappearance of another local child, Anton Leander. Are they connected, or is she joining coincidental dots because of her own experience?

Source: SBS On Demand

As always in these shows, there are a host of characters with opaque motives for Thörnblad to bump up against – although even by the standards of Nordic Noir, Silverhöjd’s customer service attendants leave a great deal to be desired. Are they hiding something, or just rude? Nobody in the town seems that keen to help with her investigation, and there’s more than a whiff of a connection to her dearly departed father, who shot himself after setting his barn on fire.

It's a compelling story that sneaks up on every viewer. Don’t read anything else about Jordskott. Just go and watch it. Quick!

Seasons one and two of Jordskott is streaming now

at SBS On Demand