Decision To Leave / Heojil kyolshim (2022)

A detective investigating an accident in the mountains becomes obsessed with the victim's wife.

'Decision To Leave' is a police drama directed by the wonderful Chan-wook Park. Intense, multi-layered, the story is far from simple and is original and incredibly believable, all thanks to the emotional subtlety infused by the skillful director.

Director:  Park Chan-wook    

With: Park Hae-il, Tang Wei, Lee Jung-hyun, Go Kyung-pyo

Rating: 8.5/10

The Little Things (2021)

Joe Deacon has a simple travelling task, but he gets distracted by a local serial murder investigation that shouldn't be his problem.

"The Little Things" is a police thriller with a traditional recipe and a few surprises. With an appealing cast, the film already has expectations from the get go. Not quite perfect, but perfectly entertaining. Denzel Washington, even on his own, deserves attracting an audience, but together with Rami Malek, with whom he has a very interesting rapport, the reasons to watch the film multiply.

Director:  John Lee Hancock    

With: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto, Chris Bauer

Rating: 8/10

Enola Holmes (2020)

Enola Holmes, Sherlock's sister, begins a very personal investigation when her mother disappears.

"Enola Holmes" is an adventure and crime film, watered down for a younger and innocent audience. Without being anything special, the film is cute but its most impressive asset is the cast.

Director:  Harry Bradbeer  

With: Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Sam Claflin, Helena Bonham Carter

Rating: 7/10

Under the Silver Lake (2018)

Sam is a jaded young man who uses the sudden disappearance of a neighbor he met only for one evening as an excuse to start an investigation in which he uncovers mysteries and coincidences.

'Under The Silver Lake' is a film in a noir style and yet modern in technique and art. It follows an unusual narrative thread, guided by cryptographic elements and the instinct and curiosity of a pseudo detective. It leaves the viewer full of doubt about there actually being a conspiracy worth discovering, but at the same time, hypnotized by the attraction and beauty of the events unfolding before their eyes, not unlike the main character.

Some might liken the art and effect of this film to the early reactions to watching Twin Peaks back in the day. It deserves repeated viewings to be experienced and judged properly.

Director:  David Robert Mitchell      

With: Andrew Garfield, Riley Keough, Topher Grace, Callie Hernandez

Rating: 9/10

iZombie (2015-2019)

A medical resident becomes a zombie and discovers that she can help police investigations through her unexpected visions.

'iZombie' is a police investigations TV series with a supernatural twist. Based on a comic book series, although simplistic, iZombie is an excellent source of comedy and light escapism. Olivia's unique personality changes are a continuous source of originality and welcome derailment and the lead actress is wonderful and efficient in her unusual role.

Director:  Michael Fields and others 

Production:  CW

Creator:  Diane Ruggiero-WrightRob Thomas   

Duration: 5 seasons of 13 episodes (42 minutes each)   

With: Rose McIver, Malcolm Goodwin, Rahul Kohli, Robert Buckley, David Anders, Robert Knepper

Rating: 8/10

The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window (2022)

Anna has been affected by personal tragedy and lives secluded, but fascinated by her new neighbors, until she witnesses a crime.

'The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window' is a short series that parodies the kind of book / movie that has flooded the screens of recent years, namely investigative thrillers in which the main character is a woman with a personal life that's far from perfect. The humor is light, not overflowing, there's an actual plot however thin, and the efficiency of the short episodes is very attractive.

Director:  Michael Lehmann   

Production:  Netflix  

Creator:  Hugh Davidson, Larry Dorf, Rachel Ramras   

Duration:  1 sezon a cate 8 episoade (30 minute fiecare)   

With: Kristen Bell, Tom Riley, Mary Holland, Cameron Britton

Rating: 8/10

The Chestnut Man (2021– )

A serial killer attacks female victims and leaves a man made of chestnuts at the crime scene.

'The Chestnut Man' is a Scandinavian crime investigation series with a short but effective season. The plot is well constructed for the first episodes, but towards the end, the surprise identity of the killer and the plausibility of the coincidences start to crumble. The insistence for the initial antipathy of the two investigators is also a bit forced, but in general, the series is well made and worth watching.

Director:  Kasper Barfoed, Mikkel Serup 

Production:  Netflix   

Creator:  Dorte Warnøe Høgh, David Sandreuter, Mikkel Serup    

Duration:  1 season of 6 episodes (50 minutes rach)   

With: David Dencik, Danica Curcic, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, Iben Dorner

Rating: 7/10

Taking Lives (2004)

An FBI peofiler is assisting the Canadian police following some serial killings in which the perpetrator steals the victims' identities.

"Taking Lives" is a forensic investigation thriller with some melodramatic moments. It involves a dream cast, and yet the film cannot refrain from a few weak spots when it comes to logic and natural reactions. The idea is interesting though.

Director:  D.J. Caruso   

With: Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Kiefer Sutherland, Olivier Martinez, Tchéky Karyo, Paul Dano, Gena Rowlands

Rating: 7/10

The Irregulars (2021)

A group of orphans in Victorian London help investigate paranormal mysteries, initially at the request of Dr. Watson and then on their own.

An interesting series for lovers of the supernatural and of the Victorian historical period. The investigation cases are not bad, the execution is interesting and the special effects are modern and look right. What probably didn't catch on were the main characters who failed to attract the public's empathy and camaraderie, as would probably have been necessary.

Director:  Joss Agnew and others  

Production:  Netflix  

Creator:  Tom Bidwell   

Duration:  1 season of 8 episodes (~1 hour each)  - cancelled after just 1 season 

With: McKell David, Thaddea Graham, Jojo Macari, Harrison Osterfield

Rating: 7/10

Marcella (2016– )

Marcella gives up staying at home for her family to return to what she knows how to do best, and that is being a detective.

A crime series that's a little different, but largely similar to others of the genre. A little too melodramatic at times, the crime stories are interesting enough, maybe a little too intermingled with the personal lives of the characters, and in a way that does not work as well as with other examples (Luther is more believable on that front).

Director:  Charles Martin, Ashley Pearce, Charles Sturridge and others   

Production:  ITV

Creator:  Hans Rosenfeldt, Nicola Larder   

Duration:  3 seasons of 8 episodes (45 minutes each)   

With: Anna Friel, Ray Panthaki, Jack Doolan, Jamie Bamber

Rating: 8/10

Criminal: UK (2019– )

A police investigation drama series that focuses on a single stage and scene of the policing process, namely that of the interrogation room.

A series based on a very interesting idea that gave birth to sister series, similar to what happened with C.S.I. This series is the UK version, but there are also ones for Germany, Spain and France. The emphasis is wonderfully placed on staging, dialogue and facial expressions and well-placed silences. Each episode is built around an individual case, with a different offender, often played by well-known actors (such as David Tennant, Hayley Atwell or Kunal Nayyar), with the team of detectives remaining constant but without allowing the viewer to become too attached. The atmosphere is well built and harsh and intense exactly when and how it should be.

Director:  Jim Field Smith  

Production:  Netflix   

Creator:  Jim Field Smith, George Kay    

Duration:  2 seasons of 3 and 4 episodes respectively (40-50 minutes each);  

With: Katherine Kelly, Lee Ingleby, Rochenda Sandall, Shubham Saraf, Nicholas Pinnock, David Tennant, Kit Harington, Sharon Horgan, Sophie Okonedo, Hayley Atwell, Kunal Nayyar

Rating: 9/10

Knives Out (2019)

The death of the head of a rich family triggers an intriguing investigation and unexpected conflicts.

A crime investigation film in the classic style of Agatha Christie or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. With an extraordinary cast, every detail is thought out with great attention and intention, each character is well defined in high level and small details, from gestures and dialogue lines to their style and clothing choices which have quite a strong visual impression, reminiscent in some places of Wes Anderson's style. Each actor carries their part with excellency, giving personality and depth to their character, but Daniel Craig (detective Benoit Blanc) and Ana de Armas (caregiver Marta) are exceptional, skillfully stealing the scene whenever they are on the screen.

The pace is quite alert, the mystery is constant even as parts of the final truth are revealed to you in the middle of the film, with many elements of surprise keeping the viewer's brain in constant wonder, trying to spin theories and possibilities, but without allowing that to become in any way annoying or frustrating. A delight for the fans of the genre.

Director:  Rian Johnson    

With: Daniel Craig, Toni Collette, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis,  Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, LaKeith Stanfield, Christopher Plummer, Riki Lindhome, Frank Oz, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell

Rating: 10/10

The Limehouse Golem (2016)

The investigation of a series of crimes in Victorian London is linked to an isolated case of a wife accused of poisoning her husband.

The Limehouse Goldem is both a social analysis and a police investigation of horrific crimes. Half-romanticised, focused on the innocent and unlucky wife, the film manages to attract the audience through candour, curiosity and sensational elements. The ending is suspected a little earlier than intended but it is a well written and satisfying ending nonetheless.

Bill Nighy has replaced Alan Rickman due to ill health. Douglas Booth is brillian as Dan Leno, a real life character of the theatre-land of the time.

Directed by: Juan Carlos Medina

With: Bill Nighy, Olivia Cooke, Sam Reid, Douglas Booth, Daniel Mays, Eddie Marsan

Rating: 8/10

Unbelievable (2019)

An intense investigation of a series of rapes which gets two female detectives with different attitudes working side by side.

The true story of the investigation is exposed in 8 intense and emotional episodes with two parallel narrative threads, the first with the initial victim who is not believed and the second with the actual investigation that took place independently of her situation. Kaytlin Dever is incredible in the role of the silent Marie, extremely expressive in her goal to highlight the intense inner feelings of the wronged victim, while Toni Collette and Merritt Wever are memorable in different ways in the roles of the detectives. The subtlety and the calm, peaceful and intense attitude of Merrit Wever (Duvall) is superbly balanced by the passion of the impetuous Toni Collette (Rasmussen).

Production: Netflix

Creators: Susannah Grant, Michael Chabon, Ayelet Waldman

With: Kaitlyn Dever, Toni Collette, Merritt Wever, Dale Dickey, Scott Lawrence, Danielle Macdonald, Elizabeth Marvel, Annaleigh Ashford

Rating: 10/10

The Fall (2013-2016)

A cat and mouse chase involving a complicated policewoman caught up in the investigation of a series of crimes and a family man leading a parallel life causing these crimes.

A fascinating series in which we are presented with two very complex personalities in their indirect duel in two opposite roles, criminal and investigator, but both actually just a different type of hunter. Extremely subtle, every detail of each moment is constructed with delicacy and respect for the viewer. Gillian Anderson is fascinating in the role of Stella, an almost cold but extremely calculated personality, passionate about her work, and an almost perfect human analyst. Jamie Dornan is terribly fit for the role, so convincing in his duality that it raises suspicions about his real persona.

It is a perfect police series, but it's not suitable for those looking for speed and fast action.

Production: BBC

Creator: Allan Cubitt

Featuring: Gillian Anderson, Jamie Dornan, Aisling Franciosi, Bronagh Waugh, John Lynch, Valene Kane, Laura Donnelly

Rating: 10/10

Altered Carbon (2018-)

An inmate with special abilities is revived in order to investigate a crime in a future where minds can be digitally stored.

A wonderful mix of genres that should satisfy all tastes: Sci-Fi, police investigation, drama. The reality and mythology of this future is fascinating and opens up unexpected possibilities for building a political-social context that actually makes sense, with its own versions of religious conflicts and conflicts caused by social status. The investigation and the crime itself are unusual and offer a main reason become addicted to this series. When you add some pseudo time travel, virtual reality, sentimental confusion, Blade Runner-like action, changing bodies like they're clothes, the recipe becomes irresistible.

It is unbelievably unfair that this series is not more talked about.

Production: Netflix

Creator: Laeta Kalogridis

Featuring: Joel Kinnaman, James Purefoy, Martha Higareda, Kristin Lehman, Renée Elise Goldsberry

Luther (2010-)

A jaded but brilliant detective cannot help but help the victims of injustice, sometimes through less orthodox methods, and often with serious consequences that directly affect him in a dramatic way.

A police series like no other. With an imperfect main character but with good intentions, with an asymmetrical structure (none of the seasons has the same number of episodes, some even have only 2 episodes) and with very different types of interests that vary from homicides and their standard investigations, to vendettas, to fascination over brilliant sociopaths and even to hiding from the law, it is a great TV addiction. 

Unmissable for genre fans and especially for Idris Elba fans!

Production: BBC

Featuring: Idris Elba, Michael Smiley, Warren Brown, Ruth Wilson, Paul McGann, Indira Varma, Sienna Guillory, Patrick Malahide, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Dermot Crowley

Absentia (2017-)

An FBI agent is kidnapped for 6 years and then released. Without any memory of the 6 years, her life is completely rewritten and she has to personally investigate the disappearance and apparent conspiracy behind it.

An entertaining series, a bit uneven in the two seasons so far, but interesting enough to keep the attention to the end. With some plot holes, it manages to progress its first season slowly and sometimes frustratingly, but then that patience is rewarded with an exceptional second season, as if written by a completely different team. If in the first season things go in a difficult to believe way and the heroine's wrongdoers plan goes a bit too perfectly, in the second season things are more credible and more intense, the heroine being finally caught up by the effects of her trauma and her post-traumatic stress which she experiences fully at the same time as showing incredible efficiency and facing new events and facts.

It was just renewed for a third season.

Created by: Matthew Cirulnick, Gaia Violo
Featuring: Stana Katic, Matthew Le Nevez, Patrick Heusinger, Cara Theobold, Angel Bonnani, Richard Brake, Neil Jackson