When we said last month that you had to cancel all of your plans for The Glass Dome, we didn’t anticipate having to tell you to do the same this month. But Ingeborg Topsøe’s Secrets We Keep (Reservatet) really is worth staying in for. The endlessly binge-able six-part series comes to Netflix on May 15.

Secrets We Keep (Reservatet) Official Trailer

Secrets We Keep (Reservatet) – The Director

Although the series is created and co-written by Ingeborg Topsøe, all six episodes are directed by Per Fly. The Danish film and television director’s debut feature film, The Bench (2000) was the first in a trilogy of the lower, middle and upper class of Denmark – making him a fitting choice for a Netflix series riddled with class tensions.

The sequel, Inheritance (2003) about the Danish upper class, was the most attended film in Danish cinemas in 2003 and won a total of seven Robert awards in 2004, including Best Film, Best Director and The Audience Award.

He directed the 2007 TV mini series, Forestillinger, starring Danish TV staples Pernilla August, Jesper Christensen, Dag Malmberg and Benedikte Hansen.

 Secrets We Keep (Reservatet) marks Fly’s Netflix debut.

Secrets We Keep (Reservatet) – The Cast

Here are the key players in the six part series:

• Cecilie – Marie Bach Hansen (White Sands)
• Mike – Simon Sears (Darkness: Those Who Kill)
• Rasmus – Lars Ranthe (Seaside Hotel)
• Katarina – Danica Curcic (The Chestnut Man)
• Angel – Excel Busano
• Ruby – Donna Levkovski
• Viggo – Lukas Zuperka
• Oscar – Frode Bilde Rønsholt
• Aisha – Sara Fanta Traore (The Nurse)

Secrets We Keep (Reservatet) – The Plot

When the vulnerable Filipino au pair Ruby (Donna Levkovski) disappears from an affluent neighbourhood in North Zealand, having begged her neighbour Cecilie (Marie Bach Hansen) for help, dark truths begin to spiral around the seemingly pristine lives of two couples.

Cecilie begins to conduct her own investigation, convinced that Ruby’s host family, Rasmus and Katarina (Lars Ranthe and Danica Curcic) are entitled racists, who don’t care about the missing young woman. Cecilie’s own au pair, Angel (Excel Busano) feels like no one cares about her missing friend.

Whilst the case of a missing immigrant is usually low priority for the local police, new investigator Aisha (Sara Fanta Traore) makes it her mission to get to the bottom of accusations of sexual assault, secret filming, poor treatment and sex work.

Cecilie and Angel are ready to help Aisha, and gradually the power structures and privileges within the beautiful homes start to unravel. Yet, Cecilie’s commitment to uncovering the truth is put to the test when Ruby’s disappearance reveals connections to her own family.

She is forced to confront her privilege blind spots and view her husband and the environment in which she is raising her children in a whole new light.

Secrets We Keep (Reservatet) – Our Review  

You will zip through this six-part series as each episode is around the half hour mark and, quite frankly, you will want to know more as the case progresses. From the offset, we are plunged into a world where two people might live in the same house but they are not having the same experience. 

Cecilie’s is a world full of sharp suited meetings, night-time skin care routines, gazing over the lavender sunset, elaborate workplace dinners. For Angel, she is constantly cooking, cleaning and looking after Viggo and Vera. It’s a 24/7 job dominated by meal preferences, baby monitors and school pick-up times. The writing and visuals combine to give a stark commentary on class within contemporary Denmark. 

But it’s not just the lifestyle that money can buy you – it’s justice. “If she was a young Danish girl, she would have been found by now,” one of Ruby’s friends muses. Rasmus (who has inter-generational wealth) and his wife Katarina (so obviously new money with her gaudy nails, dresses and jewellery) make racial slurs about their au pair freely, giggling at comments about her body. It’s shocking how comfortable they are in expressing such thoughts. But, in their situation, they know there will be no consequences (and, if there are, they can always buy their way out of them). 

There’s also a fascinating sub-plot, which emerges into something much darker, regarding Oscar and Viggo and what they get up to on their phones. Their group chat is full of pornographic videos – not all of which appear to have been taken with consent – and lewd remarks about violence towards women. It’s frightening and extremely damaging. 

At the heart of it all is Cecilie’s conflict. In a bid to be better than the unfeeling racism of her peers, she cooperates with Aisha’s police investigation. But, if the truth has the potential to destroy her aspirational family lifestyle, will she, too, simply purchase her way out? 

This series will keep you guessing right up until the very last episode and does a good job of throwing your suspicions on a number of characters throughout. What will stay with you the most, perhaps, is the obvious racial and class divides that ultimately influence the outcome of the story. The ending is likely to leave you frustrated and disabused with any notions of justice. 

Will There Be A Season Two of Secrets We Keep (Reservatet)? 

Because this season ended on such a cliffhanger, you may perhaps be expecting a season two to come along and explain the aftermath of such a horrific case. Whilst we haven’t heard anything from Netflix as yet, we would love to see how justice unfolds in the leafy suburbs of North Zealand. 

 Secrets We Keep (Reservatet) will be available on Netflix from May 15.

Written by: Mary Munoz, Content Creator at Nordic Watchlist