Dec 17, 2017 - 18 of the Biggest Psychological Thrillers of 2017. And then Louise bumps into Adele, who's new to town and in need of a friend. For a re-make to resonate with an audience that knows the original by heart, it has to deliver a new and different version while staying within the bounds of the original framework.
Dark as My Heart by Antti Tuomainen (Vintage £8.99) Dark as My Heart by Antti Tuomainen (Vintage £8.99) Inevitably dubbed ‘the king of Helsinki Noir’, Tuomainen is a much-feted Finnish crime author who is also a poet. His novel The Healer made waves over here, and this is set to do the same. Like The Healer, it is a ‘quest’ novel in which the narrator, Aleksi Kivi, sets out to hunt down the man he believes was responsible for murdering his mother, leaving him an orphan at the age of 13.
Her body was never found and the police case went cold. To this end, he inveigles himself into the household of the suspect, millionaire Henrik Saarinen, as a maintenance man.
What he doesn’t expect is to become involved with Henrik’s damaged daughter, Amanda, who, it seems, also has cause to hate her charismatic father. A Suitable Lie by Michael J.
Malone (Orenda Books £8.99) A Suitable Lie by Michael J. Malone (Orenda Books £8.99) The inside story of a marriage that is not all it seems is perfect crime fiction fodder — which Malone uses to advantage. Set in his native Ayrshire (where he is also a prize-winning poet), it tells the story of Andy Boyd, a grieving young widower whose wife died giving birth to his son, Pat. Certain that he will never again find true love, Andy is completely bowled over when he meets the delightful Anna in a pub. Brave, funny and beautiful, Anna is also smitten and their relationship swiftly develops, particularly as Anna loves Pat, too, who is in desperate need of a new mummy.
But Andy wants the perfect wife so much that he ignores all the warning signs of Anna’s ferocious temper, even when he ends up in hospital on his wedding night. Malone tackles the taboo subject of female violence against men with insight and compassion (for Anna is no one-dimensional witch), while creating all the hallmarks of a fine, page-turning psychological thriller.
Crash Land by Doug Johnstone (Faber £12.99) Crash Land by Doug Johnstone (Faber £12.99) Another outing for Scottish crime writer Doug Johnstone —this time to Orkney, a remote setting well suited to the genre, where everyone knows everyone else’s business. Student Finn has been visiting his grandmother, Ingrid, but is now heading home to Dundee to his girlfriend. Waiting at Kirkwall Airport (plane delayed by fog: entirely plausible), he gets chatted up by a glamorous older woman, Maddie, who is desperate to get off the island — but we don’t know why. Several gin and tonics later, they board the small plane, where Finn gets into a fight with an oil worker who is trying to paw Maddie (also plausible). Inevitably, what with the fight and the weather, the plane crashes, killing almost everyone except for Finn and Maddie (implausible), who promptly disappears (more implausible).
Finn, who is now in lust with Maddie, searches for her and gets swept up in a very dangerous scenario (deeply implausible). Personally, I don’t like to have to keep suspending belief in crime novels, so this didn’t work for me. That said, Johnstone has legions of fans who clearly don’t mind.
We could not get more excited for this one. Our favorite series of all time is returning after more than 2 decades. David Lynch's crime mystery cult series from the 80's about the peculiars happenings in the little town of Twin Peaks is coming back to air on Showtime. It will undoubtably again be a blend of mysterious, surreal, supernatural and odd-ball elements wrapped up in a cozy strangely familiar blanket. RATING: 80/100 RELEASE DATE: January 4th, 2017. CREATOR: John Douglas, Joe Penhall CAST: Jonathan Groff Holt McCallany Anna Torv. Pitching The Wire to non-believers is a tough job.
‘An anti-cop show disguised as a cop show’ doesn’t tingle anyone. “Truthful, complex stories about the American people left behind in a postmodern urban society” may cover the series’ content, but will not invite a lot of people to start viewing the best tv show ever made. The cult status The Wire (slowly) received probably has a lot to do with word-of-mouth, and for good reason. The show is simply ingenious and will leave a lasting impression, leaving the restraint one might have before watching the show far behind.
Despite it’s ambition to make a harsh point, it’s complexity and the vast amount of characters, The Wire tells unheard stories in an original and thought provoking way. We are confident we’ll see lots of great and innovative drama shows in the years to come, but none of them is probably going to beat The Wire in all its strength. RATING: 94/100 RELEASE DATE: June 2nd, 2002. CREATOR: Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat CAST: Benedict Cumberbatch Martin Freeman Una Stubbs. Sherlock is not yet another Sherlock Holmes brand rip-off.
This British BBC Detective show takes the most famous fictional private detective to modern-day London, and finds an excellent form to do so. Sherlock, played by the incredibly talented Benedict Cumberbatch, describes himself aptly as a ‘highly functional sociopath’, but as the series progresses, we find that his kind heart pierces through - perhaps a bit too much in season 3, almost de-mystifying him. Together with his loyal friend Watson, he solves incredibly complex cases in the heart of London loosely based on original Arthur Conan O’Doyle stories. RATING: 92/100 RELEASE DATE: October 24th, 2010. CREATOR: Nic Pizzolatto CAST: Vince Vaughn Colin Farrell Rachel McAdams. In terms of television shows, 2014 has been a very good year. If there is one show that gained momentum, it is True Detective: this show was a hype, perhaps even before the broadcast of the first episode.
Luckily, True Detective is one of those shows that lives up to its very high expectations, even exceeds them in some episodes. One of light bearers of this series is director Cary Fukunaga. The brilliant depiction of Louisana’s landscape brings beautiful mystery to True Detective, along with McConaughey’s character and the unparalleled monologues he brings. The chemistry between McConaughey and Harrelson is everything one might hope for and more. If True Detective is the level of quality we can expect when good movie actors lend themselves to television drama, the medium of film is seriously under siege.
It already is, actually. RATING: 91/100 RELEASE DATE: January 12th, 2014. CREATOR: Noah Hawley CAST: Billy Bob Thornton Martin Freeman Allison Tolman. Based of the acclaimed crime drama by the Coen Brothers, Fargo is a crime series that strongly reflects the dark humour of the film. Bringing films to the small screen is not always a good idea, but here they have done everything right. The show is funny, refreshing, odd, but also incredibly suspenseful. It is a different way of relating to characters, as they are rather caricatured, but it still works.
It is a show that does not keep the viewer in the dark, but shows everything that is happening – it is therefore extra noteworthy that it remains so addictive and exciting. RATING: 90/100 RELEASE DATE: April 15th, 2014.
CREATOR: Carlo Bernard, Chris Brancato, Doug Miro CAST: Wagner Moura Boyd Holbrook Pedro Pascal. A Danish/Swedish production that stepped out of The Killing‘s shadow and made the Scandinavian crime genre its own. Although its main characters might be more unusual, with the police woman being autistic, and with us getting to know more about their private lives than in The Killing, the show is actually a lot more conventionally a thriller show than you might think. In this sense it relies much heavier on the thrilling aspect, and less on the whodunnit aspect.
The storyline itself, with as its starting point a dead body that is found exactly where Denmark and Sweden are bordering and forces the two countries to work together, has inspired several remakes. An US one with the Mexican and American police working together, and a British-French one (in the Canal Tunnel). RATING: 86/100 RELEASE DATE: July 10th, 2013. CREATOR: Chris Chibnall CAST: David Tennant Olivia Colman Jodie Whittaker.
According to many not only the best thriller or detective show of 2013, but the best tv show over-all. The charm of the show is comparable to True Detective, but even more so to Twin Peaks, in the sense that zooms into a little village and slowly lays bear its secrets. It is a great contribution to the small town murder mystery sub-genre, and quite possibly has created the best population of a tv town so far. The characters living in Broadchurch are easy to relate to and they evoke genuine sympathy and understanding on the part of the viewer.
Next to that its smart plot makes you feel just as paranoid as the two detectives on the case. I do have to warn you that the ending is a bit of a letdown, and the epilogue is unequivocally cliche. RATING: 84/100 RELEASE DATE: August 7th, 2013.
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CREATOR: Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon CAST: Claire Danes Mandy Patinkin Rupert Friend. The premise of the tv show is straightforward – a war hero and prisoner of war returning from Iraq is welcomed back to the US as a lost son, but a female CIA officer suspects him of being turned.
The show not only gives us an insight into the intelligence work countering international terrorism and crime, but takes us on a paranoia trip as the main character Clair Danes’ character suffers from mental illnesses. There are few shows with such surprising and mind-blowing plot twists as Homeland so you better hold on tight. RATING: 84/100 RELEASE DATE: October 2nd, 2011. CREATOR: David Schickler, Jonathan Tropper CAST: Antony Starr Ivana Milicevic Ulrich Thomsen.
HBO’s sub-tv factory Cine max produced a show that is one of the rawer thriller tv shows out there, and is definitely one of the best action tv shows we have ever come across. And indeed, it sets itself apart from the rest with long and tough action scenes backed up by sufficient dramatic development.
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By no means a sophisticated screenplay, but set in a small American town near an Amish community, it has more than enough to offer atmospherically. The series is about an ex-convict who wants to get back with his former partner in crime and lover who has moved to this small American town and made a life for herself. In order to win her back he stays in town, and pretends to be the new local sheriff.
RATING: 84/100 RELEASE DATE: January 11th, 2013. CREATOR: Joseph Weisberg CAST: Keri Russell Matthew Rhys Keidrich Sellati. When former government agent and fugitive Raymond 'Red' Reddington surrenders to the FBI, he makes them an offer they can't refuse.
On the mysterious condition that he work only with recent Quantico graduate Liz Keen, he agrees to help put away criminals from a list that he compiled, which includes politicians, mobsters, spies and international terrorists - starting with long-thought-dead terrorist Ranko Zamani. As the two pursue their quarry, Red forces the rookie profiles to think like a criminal to see the bigger picture. RATING: 81/100 RELEASE DATE: September 23rd, 2013. CREATOR: Jane Campion, Gerard Lee CAST: Elisabeth Moss Thomas M. Wright Peter Mullan. This Sun dance Channel co-production, taking place in New Zealand, follows a female detective who returns to her hometown, and is asked to take on a case. A young girl who tried to kill herself by drowning in a local lake turned out to be raped and abused.
In her search for the guy who did it, she has to overcome some buried childhood trauma’s of her own. In the lead we find Mad Men‘s Elisabeth Moss who gives a great performance, and turns it in to a great psychological drama. Perhaps near the end the show gets a little too metaphorical, but it remains thrilling throughout, and make me hopeful for the upcoming thriller series from Sundance in 2014 RATING: 76/100 RELEASE DATE: March 18th, 2013.