I don’t think I have been as hooked on a Nordic crime series in quite some time, and that is saying a lot – Blood Sacrifice is absolutely outstanding
It has been a bit quiet on the Netflix front when it comes to their TV Series, but coming off the back of both Detective Hole and The Chestnut Man: Hide & Seek is Swedish thriller Blood Sacrifice, and those are some mighty big boots to fill. But, as ever Netflix has delivered again here, as they always tend to do with the Nordic series, and some would have every right to argue over whether this is possibly the best of the three crime series released this year – there will be certainly be plenty of debate in the Nordic Watchlist group chat.
“The only time he lost control was when he cut off their heads.” Blood Sacrifice does not mess around when establishing the terror looming over its characters. The series kicks off with an emergency call responder picking up a line from a terrified woman claiming someone is going to kill her.
Two police officers are dispatched to the scene, and while standard crime thrillers usually feature police officers finding the bodies, this show pulls no punches: both officers are brutally murdered, leaving their rattled colleagues to piece together who is responsible and whether they have a serial killer on their hands.
What immediately sets the series apart is how genuinely shaken the investigative team is by this hideous crime. Rather than relying on the stoic, unfazed detective trope, Blood Sacrifice injects a visceral sense of reality through a crew that is visibly shell-shocked and deeply terrified of this new threat. Front and center is Jakob Oftebro, who delivers a fantastic performance and proves to be spot-on casting for the role.
Oftebro plays Thomas Berg, the lead detective and one—for once—who doesn’t seem to have much baggage clogging up his life. He is not an alcoholic, he is not a drug addict, and he isn’t suffering from trauma from a previous crime he had to cover up. The only big issue he has, as the series transpires, is some daddy issues to work through. His face gives hardly anything away, but you can clearly feel the mounting pressure he is under.
Blood Sacrifice Review: Fear Lands on the Force
A week after the initial incident, another double murder occurs: two police officers are dispatched to help someone in distress, and both are decapitated. All of a sudden, things are looking very bleak for the force. There is a great role reversal here, as the fear lands squarely on the police themselves. With a string of these brutal murders taking place, a ripple effect spreads through the police community, putting Berg and his team in a very sticky position: who wants to work a Friday night shift and get dispatched to an emergency that could end in their death?
Around him, Berg has a team working hard to uncover leads, including Max (Henrik Norlén), John-Jo (Alexander Abdallah), and Natalie (Electra Hallman). The cast is absolutely superb, mixing recognizable faces with others you may not have seen before. Electra Hallman is particularly impressive as Berg’s sidekick, and if there were ever a gripe about the show, it would be that there was not enough of Alexander Abdallah (Snabba Cash, Thunder in My Heart), who is such a great talent.
When the unions get involved and there is the threat of police refusing to go on duty, chaos looms, and you can really feel the tension building.
Berg turns to his father, a former detective and “one of the best there was” in his words—though their relationship is complicated. A void of bitterness and resentment sits between them, which they must overcome to prevent further murders of their colleagues. Peter Andersson plays Berg’s father, Alfred, adding a fantastic dimension to the story. Kicked out of the force for reasons revealed later in the series, he clearly lives up to his reputation as both father and son discover a theory that feels almost too shocking to be true.
A Uniquely Unsettling Nordic Noir Roller-Coaster
How the series plays out makes it nearly impossible to stop watching. These days, some viewers dislike “binge-watching” a series (especially if they are enjoying it so much), but I found myself up late, shouting at the television, genuinely shocked, and completely absorbed in the story.
Jakob Oftebro is such a versatile actor—last year I spoke to him about his role as Jan Stenbeck in the Viaplay series—and here he is utterly engaging. What is fascinating about his character is that he genuinely comes across as shocked and struggling with the case, but his determination eventually kicks in, leading to some highly unethical decisions in an attempt to catch the killer.
Directing it all is Kristoffer Nyholm, who previously directed 12 episodes of The Killing and worked on series such as The Enfield Haunting and Taboo. The series creator, George Kay, has written hit shows like Lupin and Hijack (I was not as much of a fan of the latter, but do not be put off, as his work here is on another level). Meanwhile, the haunting score by Johan Söderqvist stays with you—which comes as no surprise given his work on the original Let the Right One In.
While Blood Sacrifice will naturally appeal to fans of Nordic noir, there is plenty here for horror enthusiasts as well. Though nothing supernatural occurs, it certainly feels that way at times; the threat is visceral, the murders are barbaric, and as the series reaches its conclusion, it gets extremely dark.
If one had to nitpick, the weak point would perhaps be the killer’s motivation, which I felt was a bit thin and bordering on unbelievable. However, as this Blood Sacrifice review concludes, it never ruins what is without a doubt one of the best Nordic thriller roller-coaster rides…
Blood Sacrifice is out now on Netflix – just don’t watch it in the early hours of Friday!
