Television series
Beforeigners
A Norwegian crime procedural with a wild premise: people from the Stone Age, Viking era, and 1800s inexplicably wash ashore, and no one knows why. A weary cop and a Viking warrior investigate murders while grappling with displacement, belonging, and what it means to be suddenly untethered from your own time. Strange, moving, utterly grounded.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like crime stories where a weary detective and a sci-fi mystery share the same thread, and you don't mind the premise doing the heavy lifting.
Skip it if you want the sci-fi hook front and centre; here it often sits behind a slow, grim police story, and the pace can drag.
What it asks of you: Settle in for twelve episodes of roughly 47 minutes each, with a dark tone and scenes that linger; it rewards patience more than a quick glance.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
The Leftovers2014
A mystery with no satisfying answer—and that's the point. Like Beforeigners, it asks what happens to communities when something inexplicable splinters them. Profound and deeply humane about grief.
But Relentlessly bleak and heavy. It asks for patience with ambiguity and doesn't offer easy catharsis.
Okkupert2015
Another Scandinavian thriller about occupation and resistance, also built on a high-concept premise (Russian takeover of Norway) that becomes an excuse for character-driven political drama. Smart and tense.
But It prioritises political intrigue over action. If you want explosions and chases, you'll be disappointed.
Arrival2016
First contact with the incomprehensible, but the real story is about language, time, and what we owe to those we don't understand. Shares Beforeigners' quiet intelligence.
But Deliberately slow and cerebral. It's a thinking film that prizes ambiance over plot momentum.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Beforeigners
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Dinner Guest2024
Both find dark truths lurking beneath ordinary community surfaces. Beforeigners uses murder as a gateway; this uses it as inheritance.
A documentary about a man who discovers his father was a serial killer. Quietly devastating and strange—it treats something horrifying with grace and refusal of easy answers.
But It's a real documentary, not dramatic reconstruction. Quiet, unresolved, and deeply uncomfortable.
More like this (5)
The OA2016
Wildly ambitious premise (interdimensional travel, alternate realities) paired with genuine emotional stakes about identity and home. Weird but sincere, and the cast chemistry is magnetic.
But Cancelled before its finale. It ends on a cliffhanger and never resolves, which feels cruel unless you embrace the provocation.
The Bridge on the River Kwai1957
A Scandinavian crime serial that pairs detectives from either side of a border investigating a murder that implicates both nations. Tense, twisty, and compulsively watchable.
But The later seasons lose focus and lean on shock value. Start strong but fade.
Dark2017
German sci-fi mystery about time loops and hidden connections in a small town. Intricate plotting and real emotional weight beneath the puzzle-box structure.
But Extremely complex. Missing one episode or conversation means genuine confusion. Subtitles required if you don't speak German.
Mare of Easttown2021
Kate Winslet as a worn detective in a small town with secrets. Character-first storytelling about grief, community, and the damage investigation does to investigators.
But Quite sad and slow. It's a character study more than a crime thriller, so if you're here for plot, you'll feel short-changed.
Giri/Haji2019
Like Beforeigners, it's built on the premise that you are lost when the codes that governed your life no longer apply. But it's set in the present, told as art rather than mystery, and uses displacement as its engine rather than plot.
A Japanese-British miniseries about a Tokyo detective searching for his brother in London. Visually gorgeous, humanely written, and genuinely strange—it asks what happens when codes and cultures collide and someone doesn't know the rules.
But It's quieter and more lyrical than you might expect. Some will find it elliptical and slow-moving.
People
Cast
Writing
- Anne BjørnstadCreator
- Eilif SkodvinCreator
Production
- Anne BjørnstadExecutive Producer
- Antony RootExecutive Producer
- Eilif SkodvinExecutive Producer
- Hanne PalmquistExecutive Producer
- Steve MatthewsExecutive Producer
- Terje StrømstadExecutive Producer
- Jan-Erik GammlengProducer