It's about a crime, a teenager, suicide, lies, drugs, gossip, revenge and above all sexual abuse. A case that shows all the ugliness selfish people are capable of.
A Saga Film / Icelandic Film Centre production
See: sagafilm.is
Case is an Icelandic crime series on Netflix. It might not be what you are used but it's definitely worth your time.
Season 1, Episode 1
A dead teenage girl is found dead in a theatre. Although the pathologist confirms it was suicide two detectives like to know why this girl Lara hung herself at a place she shouldn't be.
Lara's best friend Elfa says she never saw Lara after they went on the dancefloor. It's clear the Elfa hides something and so does Julius her boyfriend who works at the youth centre. To me he is a creep and so is Benedetto the ballet teacher who states he actually doesn't know her although she was very talented.
Brynhildur is a lawyer and Lara was her first case. She took the girl away from her alcoholic parents and informs them about the girl's death. The couple is furious, says the adoptive mother was too pushy and a control freak which is the reason why their daughter hung herself. They ask the help of an alcoholic named Logi who lives together with a hacker.
It's unclear to me if they feel pity for the couple who lost the custody of their daughter or if they just love to dig into people's lives and break necks since both sell information to a pimp.
The biological parents, Logi, his hacking partner and the journalist they contact seem to belong to the same group of losers. People who can't manage to lift their life to a higher level.
The actors play their roles well since I dislike them from the very first start.
Season 1, Episode 2
Logi is drunk and wakes up at the house of his ex Brynhildur who feels annoyed. Lara's parents are the news of the day and on the front page of a gossip paper.
Logi who broke into the house of the parents (his first act was taking a bottle of alcohol out of the cabinet before he hacks their computer) hides inside and hears the parents talk with Brynhildur. The mother decides to fight back because in her opinion her hacked and published e-mails are not the reason why Lára committed suicide.
It turns out the biological parents are not as innocent as they make others believe.
Their eldest daughter has serious problems and is a drug addict. She is no longer able to work and does everything for the next shot.
Abuse, sexual abuse is the storyline of the second episode. Lara was abused by her biological parents. A classmate of Lara tells detective Gabriela about Sigmundur who shows porn on his phone and how he undressed her as she was drunk and how Lara saved her.
Detective Gabriela meets Lara's ex and calls him a creep. To me, he is one of those few people one can trust, a good guy which cannot be said about Julius and his brother Sigmundur who abuse girls and make videos of it.
Benedetto... Everything about that man is wrong. I would never let him alone with my children.
Because the head of the police decides to close the case Gabriela leaks the police file to Brynhildur. Suicide or not there are too many unanswered questions. Brynhildur shows Logi Lara's old CPS file. Drunk or not Logi is shocked (but still not sympathetic to me).
Season 1 - Episode 3
It's Lara's funeral and at the end of the service, the biological parents show up and ask to say goodbye. They cry their eyes off but somehow their tears don't touch me.
Elfa discovers a sex video of her is posted on the internet and the entire school knows. Julius breaks up with her and Elfa shows the video to Logi who is hired by Brynhildur although the lawyer company isn't happy with having this drunk around.
Lara's friend at the ballet school tells the police Benedetto drugs his pupils and Egill the ex admits their relation was fake because he is gay. Lara knew and protected him and his career. Egill shows a photo of Lara on a porn site for children and Lara's sister Hanna does everything for a shot.
Hanna's role in the series is getting more prominent although in this episode mainly a dirty, sweating unattractive girl is shown. This episode ends with Elfa committing suicide.
If it comes to dirty it feels as if mainly characters with uncombed greasy hair are in the picture. Taking care of oneself is no longer a must. Detective Gabriela is no exception.
Season 1 - Episode 4
Brynhildur shows Lara's parents a photo on the porn site of their daughter. No one knows who posted it. Hanna is put at work by her pimp and Jonas (Lara's dad) has something if not a lot to hide. Photos of his naked dead daughter to start with and an Excell file with notes of each step Lara took. Of course, Logi and his partner Ilmur still hack Jonas' computer and feel no shame about it. It's kind of strange to see how a drunk who can't be taken seriously can get away with his acts without being charged.
Hanna's pimp is pissed because the information he wanted to buy from Logi about Jonas is not given to him. He uses Hanna to make and show compromising videos to Ilmur.
For sure that hurts but on the other hand, Logi is a loser and a drunk. Not a trustworthy and reliable person.
And Elfa? She didn't die and stays in hospital while Benedetto and his sick ballet dancers threaten the the girl who informed the police about the drugs.
The high amount of alcohol, drugs, smoking and filthy people are at times too much and doesn't add much more to the grey, a colourless film I am watching. The only colour is brought by the sketches of Gabriela's partner if she has dinner at his home. Lisa the wife lives in another atmosphere too.
Lara's parents
Season 1 - Episode 5
Hanna Lara's drug-addicted sister ends up in the psychiatric ward of the hospital. Logi takes her out and after he gave her drugs she tells who made the photo and she drugged her sister to make that possible.
The police try to find Hanna who is a minor too while Brynhildur asks Gloe to find the drugs hidden in the basement of the theatre.
Is there a lesson to learn except for not making a deal with a drug addict, alcoholic? Clear is no one is willing to open up or work together unless they need each other. It's in this episode Ilmur hears Hanna is Lara's sister. I wonder what makes her stay with a drunk loser like Logi. It cannot be his loyalty, honesty or the great sex.
Season 1 - Episode 6
Hanna tells who made the photos and Ilmur makes her disappear out of her life. Logi meets Hanna's pimp and is his lawyer after he is arrested for drug possession. He declares someone contacted him and gave him all the information about the girl he wanted to meet. Lara was on his list although she was different.
Jonas is blackmailed and says most of his patients are drug addicts and the same to share the same panderer.
The old dirty man, the same guy who bit Hanna and raped her with iron items in her vagina, shows his face and kills the pimp who made a video of him. A video that is saved on the cloud and he intended to show to Logi.
The storyline is sexual abuse of young teenage girls with the help of drugs, alcohol and threat. It seems to work out well for the male manipulators, abusers and it's clear to me women are an easy way of making a lot of money. So far no one feels guilty about what he did, how they manipulate, treat others.
Season 1 - Episode 7
Logi is arrested for murder and Brynhildur refuses to be his lawyer. The pimp's gang suspect Jonas of killing him. They kidnap him and are too fucked up to understand what Jonas tells them about the photos.
Although the police reopened the case and Gabriela is no longer in charge they are always (or is it still?) a few steps behind of everyone else.
Slowly drunk Logi realizes Ilmur handed Hanna over to her violent pimp. Not clear is if he feels Benedikt, his new lawyer, lied about how his daughter died 15 years ago.
Hanna is back with her parents. They say they want to help (drugged/abused) girls living on the streets with the fund named after Lara. It sounds hypocritical to me since Hanna is the proof of their way of parenting and they did so far nothing to save their eldest. If you ask me the newspapers have enough to drag down the biological parents who, to my opinion, have the financial benefit of the child they harmed. Interesting is that except for the biological parents no one leaks information to the media. Not very likely.
Season 1 - Episode 8
Due to his profession Jonas knows more than anyone could guess. He tells Logi what he discovered. Hanna recognizes the old man who bit and raped her. Ilmur, Logi and Brynhildur try to find proof. As Logi goes to the police he is arrested for the murder of Lara while Brynhildur is attacked and pushed of the stairs.
It's interesting to see how everyone involved fights each other but also work together if necessar and all those hard feelings suddenly disappear.
Season 1 - Episode 9
Logi finds a way out of prison while Gabriela asks Ilmur to find a video that proves the 70-year-old famous lawyer Benedikt is the one who raped young girls and the killer they are looking for.
It's hard to tell if this series has a happy end since most characters from the start all of a sudden are no longer followed. At least Logi tried to fight the man who told him they have a lot in common till the end and with his arrest season 1 ends.
Ok. Sounds like a lot of confusion in there