I think it's fair to say that THE KEEPER OF LOST CAUSES is Denmark's answer to THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO; it has much in common with the look, style, and feel of the Steig Larsson adaptation, although the narrative is more simplistic and straightforward as befits a shorter film. Once again the story is a mix of crime grittiness, nasty unpleasantness, historical events impacting on the present, and some dogged detectives refusing to give up on a cold case.

The methods of the killer in this film are quite terrifying from a psychological perspective, adding a sheen of unique horror to the movie which comes as an unexpected surprise. Although the subject matter is depressing the film is never so, because the production values are excellent and the cinematography particularly strong. The main characters aren't particularly likable, they're too gruff for that, but they are realistic, which is what counts. Although I'm not a huge fan of Scandinavian crime stories, even I enjoyed this well-paced and engrossing tale.

This film goes by a lot of titles: "The Keeper of Lost Causes", "The Woman in the Cage" or the literal translation of the German title "Mercy". What is not lost in this mishmash is what a good film this actually is. It is like a high-quality full feature episode of Law & Order (and that is not meant in a derogative way as I am a great fan of the series). If you are a bit familiar with the show, let me say that the main character here resembles Chris Noth's a bit.

I am not sure if you could call it a criticism, but it is surely one thing that should keep easily-offended from watching this movie: It is incredibly tense and there is psychological violence pretty much from start to finish as we see a woman trapped in a cage being tortured in various ways. Here and there, even I had to look away and I would not say that i am particularly prone to that kind of stuff. As soon as you got to know the different characters, which should not take too long as there aren't too many, it becomes an incredibly intense thrill-ride that does not offer too many criticisms. The background connection between offender and victim is heartbreaking and very well displayed through flashbacks. Maybe one thing I could have done without was the disabled brother of the victim. Did not really add that much to the story other than helping the police officers somehow to solve the crime. At one point, I even believe the offender was the new colleague to the lead character and he wants to make sure that the disabled boy does not tell anything. However, things turned out otherwise which is good. I always like being surprised and that would have been a bit too cliché too.

If you know a bit about Scandinavian cinema, you will know that these films are often very violent, have lots of black humor (In China They Eat Dogs, 1999, director Lasse Spang Olsen, also starring Nikolaj Lie Kaas) and keep you on the edge of your seat for most of the film's duration. The same can be said about this one. The lead actor's performance (struggling badass cop with dark spots in his police history not exactly a new storyline) did not wow me that much, but it was good enough to carry the film and thankfully did not get in the way of the writing which is the highlight here. The supporting actors were solid as well and you could probably do quite a great deal of analyzing how the lead character slowly builds a bond with his new partner after initially being completely opposed to the idea of not working on his own.

The novel "Kvinden i buret" is based on was written by Jussi Adler Olsen, was adapted by Nikolaj Arcel (who already adapted the original "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo") and it is the second feature film (after Klovn) from director Mikkel Nørgaard. It scored nominations in pretty much every category at the 2014 Robert Festival (the Danish Academy Awards) and that also proves it is a movie that you would not want to miss, if you can deal with its violence and intensity, of course.

In Denmark, in an unsuccessful raid against a criminal, the impulsive and stubborn Homicide Detective Carl Mørck (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) is seriously wounded by a shot; his best friend and partner dies and the other detective becomes crippled with the bullet. When Carl is recovered, he is set aside by his chief in the Department Q, where old cases are closed and filed, to work with the responsible for the department Assad (Fares Fares).

Carl stumbles upon a five year-old case of a missing person, Merete Lynggaard (Sonja Richter),who committed suicide in accordance with the investigation of an incompetent detective. Carl finds strange that someone with the intention of taking her own life brings the mentally retarded brother Uffe (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard) with her and he decides to investigate. Carl learns that Merete had given a lecture before her disappearance and he requests photos from the event. Then Assad shows the photos to Uffe that reacts to one with a man called Daniel Hale. They discover that the man lives in Sweden and when they arrive, the local police informs that Daniel died while fishing. But when they see his photo, they realize that Daniel is not the man that they are looking for but another one called Lasse (Peter Plaugborg). But their chief wants to abort the whole operation and close the case. Will Carl and Assad find Merete still alive?

"Kvinden i buret" is a great European thriller with a good story and excellent screenplay that uses flashbacks to disclose characters and situations. The story recalls police stories from the 80's but using few clichés and without car chases. The plot can be an excellent pilot for a TV series or for a franchise since Detective Carl Mørck is an interesting character, dumped by his wife and losing his two partners. His association with Assad is promising. I look forward to see a sequel of this movie. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Departamento Q: Guardiões das Causas Perdidas" ("Department Q: Guardians of the Lost Causes")