It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

As this Danish drama opens three policemen are preparing to raid a property; they go in and moments later one of them is dead the others seriously injured… one of them permanently crippled. The third Carl Mørck returns to work six months later… he hoped to return to the homicide unit but instead he finds himself heading the new 'Department Q'; it sounds intriguing but it is just a small department that will be dedicated to formally closing various cold cases. He is not expected to do any investigation; just tie up loose ends and declare the cases closed. When he gets there he finds his assistant, Assad, has selected a few possible first cases. The case of a female politician who went missing while on a ferry catches his eye. It is believed that she committed suicide by jumping overboard but the evidence doesn't feel right; she had been travelling with her mentally disabled brother and witnesses suggested that she had been trying to find him just before she disappeared… hardly the behaviour of somebody preparing to kill themselves. Carl and Assad start to look deeper trying to find men she may have been involved with and even going to Sweden to follow a lead. This does not impress his boss. Meanwhile we are shown what actually happened to the woman; she was kidnapped and placed in a hyperbaric chamber by an unknown captor who increases the pressure each year and doesn't talk to her in the intervening time and supplying her needs through a hatch. Ultimately he shows himself and states that the next time she sees him he will kill her… will Carl and Assad unravel the case and get to her in time or is it already too late?.This dark thriller starts well with a shocking opening that serves to show us why our protagonist has been given his non-job in Department Q and also his less than happy demeanour. Nikolaj Lie Kaas does a fine job as Carl Mørck and Fares Fares contrasts nicely as the much happier Assad. The case they undertake is both interesting and disturbing; what happens to kidnap victim Merete Lynggaard is unsettling to say the least; the thought of being kept in total isolation with nothing to do for years his horrifying to consider… and that is before we see how she has to deal with toothache! Sonja Richter does a great job convincing us that her character is really undergoing horrific treatment. The ending does require some suspension of disbelief as Carl and Assad close in on the kidnapper just as his five year plan to torment then kill Merete is coming to a close. We also get one of the oldest clichés of the genre; cops solving the case after they have been suspended from duty. These minor details can be easily forgiven though as the story is so gripping. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of Scandi-Noir.These comments are based on watching the film in Danish with English subtitles.

I've watched this movie now because I'm scheduling a thematic channel.It is a phenomenon. The detective literature and films from the Nordic countries boom. Not only from Larsson but since the Henning Mankell's inimitable Inspector Walander. And always with its trademark: an undercurrent of social criticism.The Q department is a very good idea that will gives us good detective stories to fans of the genre. Some clichés tarnish the story: the strongly different pair of cops, the detective alone and tormented, the chiefs are always fools ... But the plot is smoother, enough to enjoy.I look forward to the next chapter: Fasandraeberne.

The point that I should start is the official title, "The girl in the cage", I prefer by far the worldwide title since it focus more on the protagonist (has an off-topic: the Italian title makes it sound like a documentary). If you like the old drama/mystery/crime movies like I do, you will love this one, doesn't add really nothing to the gender, but it's so well produced and the acting was on point, got to love when you see an actor, Nikolaj L. Kaas in this case, waking up in a realistic way, the mood of the whole movie brings you to that slow passing detective drama, rare in our days, with all the CSI around, and ends up with a very thrilling ending.TL;dr - Noir nordish mood crime/drama

This one is a really gripping thriller that has a lot to offer for the semi-initiated viewer (of Euroflicks). The premise is rather simple: a cop (and his team) make a bad judgment call and get shot up badly during an investigation/arrest. Carl, the main protagonists, now lives with that and is plagued by guilt and remorse. After his recuperation his boss offers him to lead a new department. A desk job, so Carl can still do something, w/o being out on the streets. Turns out the department is Department Q, the cold case file storage. That's that. Now the fun part begins. He get's an assistant and is supposed is tasked with filing, cataloging and eventually laying the cold cases to rest. But his conscience (fueled by guilt) drives him into digging into the old files. And he finds one that looks fishy. So he starts to dig deeper and uncovers, with the help of his assistant, a case of a woman that went missing five years ago.And this is the part where the movie gets intense and rather disturbing. The original title translates to "woman in a cage", and it really lives up to that title. We learn about a woman who is being held in a "cage" (pressure tank, to be precise) for years now. From there the race against time begins.I really liked the setting and the pace of the movie. It's more of a slow burn than a flashy explosion. I knew they would solve the case, that was a no-brainer, but that did not matter, this is a clear case of "the journey is its own reward". Carl and Assad are portrayed in a very convincing way, as well as the entire plot-relevant ensemble. Setting and style fit the story and the lack of silly action parts makes it a well crafted thriller. At the end I was actually rather relieved that they solved that case, and I was quite happy that it actually had an happy end! (I am not the greatest fan of those predictable happy ends)Also, this one has a sequel, that I absolutely will watch. And guess what? They are making a third one!Grab it, watch it and enjoy well done cinema! More, please, Scandinavian movie people!! :)