Synopsis
Denmark, 2014. A former police officer asks Carl Mørck, head of Department Q, to find out who brutally killed his young twins in 1994. Although a local inhabitant confessed and was convicted of murder, Carl and his partner Assad soon realize that there is something in the case resolution that is terribly wrong.
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Cast
- Nikolaj Lie KaasCarl Mørck
- Fares FaresHafez el-Assad
- Pilou AsbækDitlev Pram
- David DencikUlrik Dybbøl
- Danica ĆurčićKirsten Marie 'Kimmie' Lassen
- Sarah-Sofie BoussninaYoung Kimmie
- Johanne Louise SchmidtRose Knudsen
- Marco IlsøYoung Ditlev
- Beate BilleThelma
- Peter ChristoffersenAlberg
Recommendations
- 80
Time Out London
This Danish crime thriller is so dark and stormy it will leave you dazed as the credits roll. - 70
Los Angeles Times
The success of “The Absent One,” like its Department Q predecessor, ultimately rides on the shoulders of Kaas’ intriguing Morck. - 60
The Guardian
An awful number of cliches are being ticked off here (the Fincher-esque lighting, the dogged and socially inept cop), but it’s a diverting potboiler for crime drama completists. - 60
Total Film
Lie Laas' furrowed lead and Nørgaard's taut orchestration of flashback-pumped plotting help flesh out old clichés – at least until the climax takes a glum turn for the overwrought. - 60
The New York Times
The Absent One finds Mr. Kaas as watchable as before, though a few well-intentioned attempts to lighten up his character — an orphaned cat is brought in, a speech about his motivations is given — are clumsily executed, and instead divert from his terse and magnetic personality. - 40
CineVue
The performances are fine across the board and Nørgaard keeps things moving efficiently, but this is stylish but televisual fare, ram-packed with familiar hardboiled and shopworn tropes.
