Department Q: The Keeper of Lost Causes

Department Q: The Keeper of Lost Causes is a darkly compelling, skillfully crafted cold case thriller.

The film, directed by Mikkel Norgaard (who’s borrowed a thing or three from David Fincher) and first released in Denmark in 2013, often focuses on research rather than on gunplay, yet somehow it still feels filled with action. That’s a testament to its lead actors.

While the plot toys with credibility, director Mikkel Nørgaard ( Borgen ) conjures a squalid atmosphere – the stuff of real nightmares. This is so grimly compelling that even if you want to look away, you won’t be able to.

Odd-couple chemistry and a dark underbelly keep this Danish noir adaptation compelling.

Norgaard wants to keep viewers guessing the whys and wherefores, but putting two and two together is so easy here that only the narratively challenged will be surprised by the culprit’s motivations.

Never less than professional, rarely more than functional.

As an entry into the Scandi police procedural genre, The Keeper of Lost Causes disappoints. As a TV pilot, however, it's serviceable yet unremarkable; the kind of thing that you'd probably give a couple more episodes in the vain hope that things will pick up.