We slowed things done a tiny bit in May so we could catch up some books. Alex got thoroughly sucked into Jenny Lund Madsen’s ‘Thirty Days of Darkness’, though that didn’t stop him getting an opportunity to preview a brand new series taking Norway by storm, as well as a new Netflix series, and a Viaplay series too!

Here are is our Nordic Watchlist for May.

TV SERIES

Dance Brothers | Finland | NETFLIX

Dance Brothers kicked off our month with something fresh and different from Finland. A tale of two brothers who try to make ends meet so that they can compete to get into a prestigious dance academy. Along the way they encounter a number of challenges as they take on a night club to help pay off debts and raise funds for the future.

The series has a thumping soundtrack, some great choreography, and strong performances from its two leads, Roderick Kabanga who plays Roni and Samuel Kujaja who plays Sakari.

Nordic Watchlist spoke with the pair earlier in the month and you can read that interview HERE.

Riding in Darkness | Sweden | Viaplay

In the first fifteen or so minutes of watching this series, without knowing anything about it, you might be fooled into thinking this is some fluffy drama. But at the halfway mark of the first episode there is a scene that happens where that thought is very quickly vanquished and you become totally sucked in despite how upsetting and shocking what you are seeing unfold is.

There are some outstanding performances going on here and credit really must go to Jonas Karlsson (also in Beck) for playing Tommy, an absolutely horrible human being, very convincingly.

Kids in Crime | Norway | SPECIAL PREVIEW

Kenneth Karlstad’s Kids in Crime has been scooping awards since the beginning of the year and at the recent Gullraten Awards in Norway (the Norwegian version of BAFTAS or EMMYs) the series won Best director and Best cinematographer.

The director got in touch with Nordic Watchlist to offer an exclusive preview of the series and we can certainly confirm that you won’t see anything else like it from the Nordic region – at best it is a thumping techno musical assault on your senses, where a blend of Pusher and Trainspotting chaos erupts in a cloud of narcotics.

It it understandable why there is so much praise for this and we hope to see it get a release in the future. Look out for our interview with the director next month!

FILM

The Year I Started Masturbating (Swedish) | NETFLIX

We are so delighted that Erika Wasserman’s romantic comedy has been made available worldwide on Netflix. With perhaps one of the most controversial titles of the year this is a wonderful feel good comedy with an absolutely brilliant performance from its lead Katia Winters, who is switching back to Swedish language having spent some time in the US doing shows such as The Boys and Dexter.

What is it about? A middle-aged woman gets dumped by her husband and sees her world fall apart and tries to get her life back on track – with the guidance of her new friend Liv, played by Vera Carlbom who delivers an outstanding debut. Get ready for chaos, comedy, heartache, and well, masturbation!

BOOK

Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen | ORENDA BOOKS

I finally found his reading mojo again with Jenny Lund Madsen’s ‘Thirty Days of Darkness’, a debut novel which delivers a comic yet dark bit of Nordic Noir. Danish Author Hannah is sent out to Iceland by her publisher to see if she can write a crime novel in thirty days, but she seems more interested in drinking than writing. Then a murder happens and everything begins to get incredibly interesting and dangerous for her.

Bearing in mind that this novel comes from one of the screenwriters behind such shows as Rita and Follow the Money, you are guaranteed to have some fun with this!