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The Valhalla Murders (2019)

2019 · Crime,Drama,Mystery · crime-procedural, crime-detective-puzzle, crime-psychological-profiler

The Valhalla Murders poster

The Valhalla Murders is an Icelandic Nordic Noir procedural that follows a local detective (Kata) and a Norwegian-based Icelandic profiler (Arnar) investigating a series of murders tied to a long-closed, abusive boys' reformatory. Shot in visually arresting Icelandic landscapes — snow-covered, remote, relentlessly grey — it leans into classic genre beats: flawed protagonists with personal baggage, slow-burn investigation, institutional secrets, and an atmosphere of creeping dread. Best suited for viewers already fluent in Scandinavian crime drama who appreciate deliberate pacing, location-as-mood, and a cold-case whodunit structure over action or character warmth. The show comfortably earns its genre credentials without fully transcending them.

From the reviewers

Dark looming feel, great cinema photography with beautiful landscapes of Iceland.
From start to finish there is a great atmosphere with snow covered settings and a 'cold look' even when indoors.
The lead characters are interesting; each has their own problems, which some might consider a little cliché, but that didn't bother me.
The cast is solid; most obviously Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir, who plays Kata; and Björn Thors, as Arnar.
The austere scenery is breathtaking and the cinematography topnotch (although far too dark indoors, sometimes obscuring important clues)

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