VOD Review: A Conspiracy of Faith (2016)

"The adventures of Carl Morck and Assad never disappoint."

Movies like this are why we love Scandi Thrillers so much.



The entire Department Q Trilogy has been a captivating, disturbing, and emotional journey to go on, and we're kind of sad to think that this may be the last entry for the story, and especially its characters. There are three more books in the series, but so far none of them are in development as films, and so we will hold out hope that every year or so they'll decide to give us a new adaptation to enjoy.



It's just a comfy, albeit disturbing world to explore for two hours, and we want more. 

After the events of The Absent One left him in an even more fragile mental state than usual, Carl Morck is on sick leave. The poor guy just gets closer and closer to cracking every day, and he's to the point now where he's so stressed out that he's even got the shakes. Lucky for him that his trusty partner Assad, along with their plucky assistant, Rose, are holding things down at Department Q while he's gone.

IN THIS SCENE, ASSAD SHOWS ROSE HIS FAVORITE PAGE FROM THE KAMA SUTRA. ROSE IS INTRIGUED.

When a message in a bottle washes up on the shore of a Jutland beach, Morck and Assad uncover a string of missing children that are somehow connected to a shadowy Religious Cult, which they immediately assume are Jehovah's Witnesses, because they are shadowy as fuck. We're pretty sure that it's got something to do with Pokemon Go too, but that's just a theory.

"QUICK KIDS, GET IN THE CAR... THERE'S A SQUIRTLE NEARBY!"

As always though, the truth is far more complicated than they first believe, and things get pretty dire and dark. Even Satanic. Will this be the case that finally breaks Carl Morck for good? Will Rose and Assad finally hook up? Will there ever be another movie in the Department Q series? Far be it from us to spoil anything for you here, but almost, no, and there had better be, or someone will pay!

"LOOK OUT, CARL!"

The thing about these movies is that at their core, they play pretty much like an episode of anything that bears the title of CSI or NCIS: they catch a case, there's some witty banter, things get hairy, and by the end, the killer is caught, and all is well. What keeps these movies from being as boring and routine as that type of lazy, predictable American crap though, are the lovable and complex characters, and the overall quality of storytelling that makes us genuinely care about them. Also, things get pretty disturbing and the story always seems to go to places that shake the audience up a bit, so that's a big difference too.

AND CAN WE JUST SAY THAT THE LOCATIONS ARE GORGEOUS? BECAUSE THEY ARE.

In A Conspiracy of Faith, the already hectic relationship between Assad and Morck is tested even further when Religion is brought into the picture. Where Assad is a man of faith, choosing to believe in something greater than himself, Carl doesn't believe in much of anything, and has no problem telling Assad what a fool he is because he does. The two are partners, and have become friends by this point, but that's mostly because Assad won't give up on Carl. It's ironic that the man's faith, that Carl decries at every turn, is the one thing that keeps their friendship going, and keeps the man from being totally alone and isolated. 



It's all really kind of beautiful, when you think about it.



Once again, the cast is fantastic in this one. Nikolaj Lie Kaas is more brooding and broken than ever as Carl Morck, and the man effortlessly pulled the emotion out of us with his performance. I can't believe that it took me three movies to realize that Fares Fares is also on a TV show called Tyrant that we watch every week. I'm usually quicker than that. In any case, it was great to see Assad become more of a forefront character in this one instead of just a loyal sidekick, which he kind of was in the first two movies.

ASSAD IS A RIDE OR DIE TYPE OF DUDE.

Some corpses, some stabbing, some gunshot wounds, and a particularly disturbing incident with some scissors... this one has its bloody moments.

I HOPE HE HAS SOME PEROXIDE.

There was a sex scene, but nothing salacious.

HANDS OFF THE KIDS, CREEPER!

The scene at the end in the church illustrates exactly why we've enjoyed these Department Q movies so much. We felt the emotion in a big way.

ALL THOSE FEELS.

We're so glad that we stumbled on this series of films, because they really satisfied the Scandi Noir fans inside of us. We're also really bummed because we've now watched all three of the films in the series, and have nothing new to discover in that world, at least on film. Maybe we can find some solace by reading the other three books for now...



As with its two predecessors, A Conspiracy of Faith is a solidly engaging movie that has some of the best characters that you'll likely find in films of this type, and if you haven't seen them yet, we say that you visit our VOD Release Dates Page, start at the beginning, and enjoy them all.



B+



A Conspiracy of Faith is available now on VOD.

The lovely ladies of A Conspiracy of Faith. More like A Conspiracy of Cuteness, am I right?

VOD Review: The Absent One (2014)

"Department Q Part 2 is better than the first one."

A few weeks back, we discovered a Nordic Noir called The Keeper of Lost Causes (review HERE.) The first movie in the Department Q trilogy, we really dug everything about it, and so we immediately knew that we had to see its sequels.



The second movie in the trilogy, The Absent One, is every bit as good as its predecessor, and if we're being honest, it's better in some ways. It's also a lot darker, and it doesn't quite end on a happy note, but hey, we don't really expect all that much happiness when it comes to Nordic/Scandi Crime Thrillers.



Maybe that's why we like them so much.

Even after solving the case and saving the life of a politician that everyone besides Morck and Assad thought was dead (in the first movie), their Department Q is still treated like a joke by the entire department. In fact, they're refereed to as "The Drunk and The Arab" by their peers, because their peers are jealous assholes! It probably doesn't help matters that Carl Morck is still as icy and laconic to everyone, including their new secretary, as he ever was.

ASSAD UNDERSTANDS HIM THOUGH.

After Morck turns away a desperate father who begs him to take a look at the decades-old case of the murder of his twin children, the guy commits suicide. Even though he and Assad have piles of cold cases to sort through, he decides to investigate the man's claims, because he feels guilty as hell. As usual, everyone else but Assad thinks that he's wasting his time investigating something that isn't there, but he's a man on a mission, and he won't be dissuaded.

DON'T WORRY THOUGH, IT'S ABOUT TO GET REAL FOR EVERYONE.

With the help of their new secretary (who turns out to be smart as a whip in addition to being a sexy redhead), they discover that a gang of privileged kids at a boarding school might have been up to some shady shit, such as rape, murder, and playing hooky, none of which leads to anything good for anyone.



Good old fashioned Nordic dysfunction ensues.

T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

In some ways, a movie like The Absent One is a pretty by-the-numbers affair; you pretty much know that you're in for 2-hours of watching some Cops unravel a crime, and that the case is going to be solved by the end. That's alright though, because it's the characters that are really the payoff here. Sure, we love the dark mystery of it all, but the interactions between Morck and Assad (or Morck and anyone, for that matter), are what make these films so enjoyable for us.



As with the first one, we get to see the story from two different timelines: One shows us Department Q in the process of solving the mystery; while the other shows us the crimes as they happened. The melding of the two works well, and with the disturbing nature of the story, ratchets up the tension to a fairly palpable level.

HE BROODS A LOT.

Nikolaj Lie Kaas does a great job of playing the troubled, anti-social Carl Morck, and the relationship that he has with his assistant Assad (played equally as well by Fares Fares) is what makes these movies tick. Morck is a self-destructive but brilliant detective, and you can see him struggling with trying to better himself, become more social, and it's fascinating to watch his journey towards what we hope will be some sort of salvation.



Pilou Asbaek makes for a convincing villain for Morck and Assad to face off against, as there's a quiet intensity about him that just screams bad guy. We've been fans of his since watching him on Borgen, and we're glad to see his star is rising with a key role on Game of Thrones. If he keeps playing roles like this, he'll become even more widely known.

HE'S THE PERFECT EURON GREYJOY.

Murder, rape, people being beaten with pipes, people being set on fire, and a really disturbing twist that went to a rather dark place, The Absent One is significantly more violent and gory that the first movie was.

"PAINT ME LIKE ONE OF YOUR FRENCH GIRLS."

There was more nudity and sex in this movie that we thought there would be, considering that the first movie was basically devoid of the stuff.

WELL THEN...

Rich kids at exclusive boarding schools are always evil on the inside. Also, the troubled girls always fall for them, because they love bad boys and all. 

YEAH, SHE'S TROUBLED ALRIGHT.

The second movie in the Department Q Trilogy, The Absent One felt a lot more seedy and disturbing than the first movie did, and that's a good thing. It's definitely a tougher movie to stomach due to the violent sexual nature of some of the crimes, but it's handled with a level of sensitivity that makes it tolerable, especially since you know that Carl Morck will get his man by the time all is said and done, and make them pay.



We loved this one, and we can't wait to check out the third movie. We hope that there will be more to come after that.



B+



The Absent One is available on VOD now,

Hot Danish chicks, anyone?