Happy New Year everyone – here we are in 2025 – a very special year for Nordic Watchlist as it turns 5 years old and what better way to start celebrating than to see what amazing titles are being released with our Nordic new releases – January monthly guide.
FILMS & TV SERIES
Stockholm Bloodbath | Film | Digital On Demand | UK & Ireland | 6th January
Stockholm Bloodbath will make its UK and Irish debut thanks to Vertigo Releasing – the film, which has had released in the USA and across Europe, sees a stellar Nordic cast all speaking English which should make the film accessible to wider audience to enjoy.
To the Nordic loving die-hards there is plenty of recognisable faces to look out for in there – everyone from Claes Bang to Alba August, Adam Pålsson to Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, and many more.
The film offers a fresh perspective on a notorious Scandinavian massacre, centering on two sisters, Anne (Cookson) and Freja (August), who are determined to avenge their family’s brutal murder. Their journey leads them to Stockholm, where they become entangled in a fierce political conflict between Danish King Christian II (Bang) and Swedish rebel leader Sten Sture (Pålsson), culminating in a tragic and violent climax.
The Breakthrough | TV Series | Netflix | 7th January
Based on the nonfiction book The Breakthrough: How the Genealogist Solved the Double Murder in Linköping by Anna Bodin and Peter Sjölund, the four-part series delves into Sweden’s second-largest murder investigation. It follows the gripping story of a detective and a genealogist joining forces to solve a shocking double homicide that went unsolved for 16 years, racing against time to prevent the case from going cold.
The cast is led by Peter Eggers (Snabba Cash) and Mattias Nordkvist (Deliver Me), with Lisa Siwe directing and Oskar Söderlund penning the screenplay.
The Girl With The Needle | Film | UK and Irish cinemas | 10th January
Another film to get incredibly excited about is the MUBI release of The Girl With The Needle which will finally get its UK release on the 10th January and will eventually come to the MUBI streamer later in the year as well!
Vic Carmen Sonne puts in an absolutely fascinating performance here and those familiar with the great Trine Dyrholm will never be able to look at her in the same light in this incredibly dark story. We like to empathise on the dark part too – this is not for everyone so be prepared!
Directed by Magnus Von Horn, whose previous film Sweat is well worth a watch (it is Polish but the director is Swedish), shares a dark story from Danish history when a woman looking for work and on a downward spiral meets a lady who is running an underground adoption agency but things aren’t what they seem.
We really hope to see this one get to the Academy Awards and along with some excellent performances from both Trine and Vic there is also Besir Zeciri (Wildland) who is also phenomenal. Look out for our interview with the director next week!
The Damned | Film | UK and Irish cinemas | 10th January
The perfect film to get stuck into if you fancy a spooky tale set in Iceland. Icelandic director Þórður Pálsson creates a wonderful sense of dread and fear with The Damned as we follow a group of people set up on an isolated fishing station in Iceland who witness a ship sinking but can do little to help due to their low food rations. Things begin to get a bit weird and escalate when they discover some bodies from the ship, and soon things turn supernatural.
The film is in English with a great cast that includes Odessa Young (The Staircase) and Joe Cole (Gangs of London) – be sure to check this one out if you like a scary slow burn!
The Bunker | Docu-TV Series | Viaplay UK & USA | 13th January (USA) & 16th January (UK)
With unsettling parallels to the infamous Josef Fritzl case, this harrowing true-crime documentary unearths the unimaginable ordeal of Isabel Eriksson, a young Swedish woman who was drugged and abducted by a doctor after their second date. Surviving this nightmarish experience, Isabel courageously confronts her trauma in a powerful and unflinching new series.
In 2015, Isabel woke up in an underground bunker meticulously constructed by Dr. Martin Trenneborg, who intended to imprison her and others in this sinister space. Though she escaped the horrifying captivity, the scars of that ordeal linger. Battling PTSD, Isabel bravely revisits the events and the bunker itself, shedding light on her journey to reclaim her life and confront the darkness of her abductor’s actions.
Blackwater | TV Series | Channel 4 / Walter Presents (UK) | 17th January
We are very excited about this series coming to UK screens thanks to Walter Presents and Channel 4. Boasting a ridiculously talented cast that includes Pernilla August, (Young Royals) Alba August (Bullshit), Rolf Lassgård (The Hunters), Liv Mjönes (Hostage) Asta Kamma August (The Hypnosis), and Alma Pöysti (Fallen Leaves) – those are some big names!
The is based in the summer of 1973, under the midnight sun of Blackwater, North Sweden, Annie and her six-year-old daughter Mia arrive to join Annie’s boyfriend at a remote commune. When he fails to meet them, their trek through the forest ends in horror as they stumble upon a gruesome crime scene. Suspicions ripple through the tight-knit community, implicating Annie and others, while the local police encounter an unyielding wall of silence.
Eighteen years later, Mia returns to Blackwater with her boyfriend Johan, stirring up buried traumas when her mother, now a local teacher, suddenly vanishes. With police dismissing any connection to the past, Annie’s partner Birger and Johan launch their own investigation. What they uncover is a harrowing truth that challenges their perceptions and confronts the dark legacy haunting the town.
Veronika | TV Series | Viaplay UK | 27th January
Having screened over on Viaplay USA in August last year the series now arrives to the UK streamer.
Combining spectral elements with your typical Scandi police procedural, Veronika gives us an unreliable protagonist and a small town burdened by secrets of the past.
Alexandra Rapaport excels as the titular detective in this eight-part series, truly looking like a woman on the brink. We piece together three murders alongside her, questioning everything we see and hear. It seems like her career, her marriage and home life, and the peace of this small forest town are all reliant on her ability to solve these crimes. Tobias Santelmann, Karin Bertling, and Arvin Kananian make up an impressive cast.
Offering up commentary on mental health, grooming, social class and “the hysterical woman” trope, Veronika is an unusual, engaging series that will leave you gripped right up until the very last seconds.
Bullsh*t | TV Series | Viaplay USA | 30th January
Bullshit is a gripping new drama inspired by true events, premiering exclusively on Viaplay.
Set in late 1970s and early 1980s Copenhagen, the series dives into the dangerous world of the hardcore biker gang Bullshit. Based on Bullshit: The Story of a Family by Camilla Stockmann and Janus Køster-Rasmussen, it won multiple awards at the 2024 Geneva International Film Festival, including Best Miniseries and Best Acting Performance.
The story follows Pia (Alba August, Becoming Astrid), a 16-year-old escaping her troubled home, and Henning, aka Mackerel (Marco Ilsø, Vikings), an 18-year-old chasing freedom and brotherhood in the gang. As their passionate romance unfolds, rising tensions with the Hells Angels push them into a brutal and life-altering conflict.
The series is directed by the talented Milad Alami (who directed this year’s Opponent) and is a wild ride – don’t sleep on this one!
BOOKS
Into Thin Air by Ørjan Karlsson | Orenda Books | 16th January
A new year and a new series, with 16 January seeing the release in English of the first in Ørjan Karlsson’s Arctic Mysteries series, Into Thin Air.
Introducing us to Inspector Jakob Weber, Into Thin Air sees the detective working on a case of a potential serial killer in the remote Nordland region in Norther Norway. Already a huge hit in his native Norway, the new Jakob Weber looks set to be another well-received addition to the Nordic detective list.
