The police work is laughable, which is a shame as the production is quite good. There are so many times when we had to laugh at how ridiculous the plot was, how unlikely the events, the total lack of police and security in what is a major crime of global proportion. The oh so bad opening song gives you a taste of what's to come.
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tahitilooksnice10 May 2020
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paul2001sw-11 January 2017'The Killing' established a certain template for Scandinavian crime drama: dark, moody, intense, understated, and with a tough, and not conventionally feminine, leading female protagonist. The recipe was followed pretty much exactly in 'The Bridge'; and many of the same elements are also present in 'Modus'. But for my money, 'The Killing' was great because of brilliant acting (and occasionally writing), rather than because it unlocked inherently magic elements, and for me, 'Modus' falls a bit flat. It's one thing to tell a complex multi-part story of a criminal investigation, one which impacts upon the private lives of its characters; but it's another to make this into a cohesive story, one which makes intrinsic sense and makes the viewer care beyond the latest twist. And to my mind, any plot based upon the idea of the serial killer with the premeditated plan is at a disadvantage even before it starts. 'Modus' isn't awfully done, and maybe I'm just a bit Scandi'd out, but it certainly lacks the freshness that the first season of 'The Killing' such a success.
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With the explosive blooming of Scandi Noir, this decade has seen several dozens of thrilling series where something bad is developed and solved/removed using suspense and uneasiness... Some concepts and approached are distinct, the others not, and even in a relatively big country like Sweden, there are many recurring actors-actresses having bigger or smaller roles in various thrillers, including here, that it takes some time to get used to it. Well, most performers are good at least, but in Modus, it often seemed that the leading characters or performances were more static and trivial that many supporting ones, Melinda Kinnaman and Henrik Norlén did not impress me too much.
As for the plot and it's entertainment level, Modus had a few twists only, and the basic reasons for the wrongdoer's actions were revealed too soon, with some excessive moralisation, and the gay topic was over- exploited in this context. The police work was oddly weak, the killer of foreign origin could easily advance openly, paving the way for protracted scenes and unnecessary cast. But still, the general atmosphere was OK - probably for those having some knowledge of Scandinavian way of living and attitudes; I can hardly imagine that the series in question could be an interesting fellow to viewers outside Nothern Europe. -
ikanboy30 October 2017We have a profiler. We have an autistic kid. We have a sociopath. We have crazy American evangelicals. We have homo-cides galore. We have diversity galore. What we don't have is an interesting personality. The profiler spends her time protecting her mostly mute teen, and spouting the usual profile psychobabble, which never gets anyone closer to the killer. As usual the killer gets caught by being stupid, namely he attacks our heroine who is of course going to survive and prosper.
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dsmithofnh5 July 2020IMO, Season 2 was much better than Season 1. If I were to rate each season separately, Season 1 would rate a 5-6, and Season 2 would be an 8. So, if you are OK with the first season, hang in there for the second and you'll be rewarded.
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googooji24 October 2015Modus is a pretty well made TV series just like several other nice TV series made by swedes!
I think the reason for why i am pretty much into Modus is that it is pretty engaging. it really is pretty much like quite several other Swedish TV series such like Äkta Människor, Jordskott, Beck and even the comedy one Solsidan. The storytelling is so good and with that many characters making appearance, one never knows what connects all of them and what their true intention really is. Modus does not have a so unique or ground breaking subject in terms of the purpose of the wicked happenings committed so far in it. But the making of it combined with good directing, acting and cinematography gives this series a great atmosphere and quite a few mysteries to solve which, is also what has so far got me hooked for.
it surely is highly different from any America made TV series and it so far lives up to what i am always happy to see in a Swedish TV production. will continue follow the show till the end of the mysteries gets revealed! -
robaire-251-59752428 April 2020Very enjoyable. 1st series was excellent. 2nd series has an interesting and bold plot. A little spoiled by the terrible acting of Greg Wise (a real 'ham' actor) and wholly unconvincing accent (a poor imitation of 'Dr House'). Good Nordic Noir
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kriszti-839493 March 2019The first season was brilliant in my opinion. It was very exciting and it was different from what I've seen so far. The second season was mostly irritating. The American president has disappeared. The super intelligent psychologist finds the place where she is held captive and goes there on her own. Why?? She leaves her cell phone behind and she doesn't even notice it. Then when she finds the president, the president refuses to ask for help because she doesn't trust anyone. This is a plausible explanation according to the psychologist, so she doesn't even think about notifying her husband, who is a policeman and she just stays with the president in an abandoned industrial area. In the end, after they spent about 2 days at this lovely environment, the psychologist gets in contact with a doctor and after she too arrives, they still remain where they are, instead of calling the police. This whole concept I found very irritating especially because the husband of the psychologist was a sort of model husband I think almost everyone could wish for (maybe not everyone is attracted to his appearance, but that is subjective anyway, but his character traits were appealing - I know this is subjective too). And the final solution is also a bit whacky but I don't want to reveal everything from the second series. All in all it wasn't bad, only the first season was a whole lot better.
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oscarkeeklund16 July 2022An Ok Swedish Tv-show. It's not the best I've seen, but it's definetly watchable and of not, memorable. Give it a try, it's not that bad as the reviews!
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npalandati28 September 2020This doesn't meet the higher standards I'm used to in watching Scandinavian shows (The Bridge, The Killing, Borgen, etc.). Frankly, it comes across as a a more lazy American version. Too bad.
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Captive! We start thinking more about other stuff then the murder itself. If you see only one episode, can make no sense, but if you watch more, you see the great picture and the whole history. Congratulations! You can see a girl with troubles trying to communicate as well a mother behind the psychologist - and you see, everybody has their own problems and people who lived them knows how to help as well. Shows something about society and the prejudice that still remains and how great would be with people start to think about it and open their hearts to whatsoever is not a difference that matters to make someone an et. We are all human beings and doesn't matter other believes, but what we do and the respect about the different thought.
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The first season is super exciting, it got 7/10.
Just finished the second season and felt it was a bit slow compared to the first. Characters are great - would have loved for the story to proceed in a faster manner. Grade: 6/10. -
Laight27 March 2021So many good detective shows coming from Scandinavia -- this is not one of them. It's way too long for the minuscule plot, which has constant and weird holes throughout. The lead actress is absurdly bad -- she only seems to have three facial expressions, all of which are rather unpleasant. The southern American accents are ridiculously wrong. The lead character is supposed to be a brilliant profiler but she's lame beyond belief -- her comment when seeing a CEO with a portrait of his grandfather rather than his father in his office is that the man must love his grandfather more than his father -- um, right. Finally, the series ending is quite possibly the silliest and the most predictable in tv show history. The reason this monstrosity is worth two stars instead of one is that the two young girls who play the lead's daughters are excellent -- they totally upstage the adults. But that's not enough to waste so many hours of your life on sub-standard tv.
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Vindelander15 November 2020I enjoyed both seasons and think some of the reviews here have been a bit harsh. It's not as good as The Bridge or The Killing but certainly as good as Borgen.
Good cast, exciting plot with some flaws but overall well constructed. I've seen it twice so it can't be complete pants ! -
jaz-1555219 March 2020Season 1 is a good thriller, but sometimes a bit unrealistic as apparently the killer is always a few steps ahead of the police or the profiler. He's present or around most of the crime scenes but nobody seems to notice him, and as in most of the Nordic series, the killer is going after the leading Police lady, something that real killers would not do. And as usual the Police women are home alone.
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sanguine-4896627 March 2019Season 1 (just finished) is very engaging. At this time, I've binged several years worth of shows in the same genre, made all over the world. It gets harder and harder to find the good stuff. Modus is not quite as good as Bron (The Bridge) or the US version of The Killing (WHEN will we get to see the original Forbrydelsen in the US?!?) but it is right up there. Good production values, good acting (trivia: Melinda Kinnaman is US The Killing Joel Kinnaman's sister), some great acting (Krister Henriksson IS Wallander in Henning Mankell's series), and a good storyline (re. IMDB, based on a Norwegian novel by Anne Holt). We know the identity of the killer from the start, so the journey is the why of his origin and the suspense as the killer closes in. The social issues are more suited to a few decades ago, but maybe that's my wishful thinking. I rolled my eyes a bit that stereotyped ignorant Americans with thick regional accents were brought in to carry the plot. (It's equally annoying when the reverse is true for American TV.) But overall, a very good, entertaining season, definitely close to an 8 (but I'll add a miniscule point to help boost the unfair 6). At this time (Spring 2019), Modus is available in the US on PBS (through Amazon, in my case). On to Season 2!
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fiona_r_lamb1 February 2021I enjoyed the first series but the second series was a dud. Firstly, Greg Wise's ATROCIOUS American accent irritated me every single time he was on screen, which unfortunately was most of the time. Kim Cattrall was sorely underused and did not come across as even remotely Presidential. The whole adoption storyline came to an abrupt stop and no closure for either the daughter, real mother, adopted parents or us the viewers. There were too many red herrings - i.e. the Chief Alva being the leak/spy/mole. And it was very slow. Also, why Johanne's husband never thought to ask her about her relationship with Greg Wise's character despite being told by several people that something bad went down, I will never know. Also, if the US President went missing even for a nano second the world would descend on Stockholm so fast and hard yet we hardly saw anything happen except the Secret Service and FBI squabble amongst themselves. Disappointing. I can see why there's no third series.
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Tweekums17 December 2016As this eight part drama opens it is winter in Sweden and people are preparing for Christmas. One of them is Inger Johanne Vik, a psychologist who also works as a criminal profiler; she is staying in a hotel with her two daughters, the elder of who is autistic. This girl goes for a late night walk and witnesses a killer as he hides a body in the hotel basement just as importantly he sees her. Soon there is another killing in another part of Sweden; Bishop Elisabeth Lindgren is stabbed to death; detective Ingvar Nyman is on that case. As more bodies appear Inger realises that they are all connected despite the fact that the victims aren't obviously connected and the methods of killing are different. Inger and Ingvar are soon working together and it emerges that the victims were all homosexual not obviously though; the bishop was married with children and even they didn't know. As the investigation continues the killings are linked to a sinister cult-like group in the United States which has a violently homophobic agenda.
We have been treated to plenty of fine dramas from Scandinavia in recent years and this one is up there with the best. While the identity of the killer is known from the start it is still gripping as there is frequently a sense of danger and early on it isn't that obvious why he is doing what he does. Marek Oravec does a fine job making the killer particularly creepy while still looking very ordinary. Melinda Kinnaman is great as protagonist Inger and is ably supported by Henrik Norlén as Ingvar. The rest of the cast are pretty solid too. The winter setting adds nicely to the already chilly atmosphere. At only eight episodes in length the story doesn't have time to drag but nor does it feel rushed. Overall I found this to be a gripping series; fans of other Scandi-Noir should check it out. -
jonaskolmodin27 March 2022Exciting plot with a good tempo building but unfortunatly a bit destroyed by the stiff manuscript wich makes some of the characters read off a piece of paper and the poorly character who is claimed to be this super smart profiler who makes kindergarden notices and is portraied really poorly by Kinnaman, long thime since Ive seen such bad acting. But overall interesting and a good thriller (season 1).
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yohibadash30 April 2021I'm a sucker for detective shows, specially the nordic kind but this one was really hard for me to watch. Season 1 was ok-ish , it started off ok but then got ruined by the fake american accent and bad acting of the fbi agent, of the church creeps who talk soooo slowly and have such bad acting it literally pissed me off to watch it and i couldnt wait for it to end already.
The second season was even worse! The script was horrible, the opening song makes you want to turn off the tv, and the storyline is sooooo bad. Lots of holes, the timeline doesnt add up, and at some point i found myself being pissed off most the time just wanting it to end already... -
nigel492 February 2020Was very impressed with this Swedish crime thriller. It has great atmosphere, backed up with an intelligent soundtrack and excellent camera shots. The acting is exceptional, from the children through to the main two leads who have great chemistry. All players lend a wonderful cohesion to the flow of the narrative. A really intelligent story line that cleverly carries the thread of action, interaction and sense of what's next through to the end. European crime thrillers like this seem to be light years ahead of what we see produced for North American screens.Certainly they have a more emotional depth ,this one has a more nuanced repertoire. In addition Europeans seem to be able to deal with certain subject matter,in this case being gay, with an understanding and acceptance that is seems to be beyond us here in North America. This season one really impressed,lots of great acting,camera angles, and making me really look forward to season two.
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oscarjneklund16 July 2022An Ok Swedish Tv-show. It's not the best I've seen, but its definetly watchable and if not, memorable. Give it a try, its not that bad as the reviews!
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crumpytv9 December 2021A somewhat controversial homophobic based storyline throughout.
It is a well crafted drama, something we have come to expect from the Nordic Noir, but there are a few holes and the plot that do not make sense.
The mandatory romance between the main characters just got in the way.
She did not actually do that much, but Stina was mesmeric. -
griernick19 May 2020A pretty good crime thriller ruined by the terrible, sometimes laughably bad acting by Marek Overac.