Nordic noir: the 22 best Nordic series on Netflix and HBO

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IF it would be necessary to choose a television genre that has seen a legion of fans join it in recent decades, that has been the so-called Nordic Noir. It seems that the northernmost countries of our continent have a particular fondness for matters that concern the police, private investigators, and the dark aspects of our minds. So, knowing that many of the series that we will propose to you have never heard, we offer you our detailed list, with titles on Netflix and HBO .

Nordic noir the 22 best Nordic series on Netflix and HBO

Whether you want stories closer to the titles teenage that populates current platforms, or if you are looking for more mature stories, you should also take a look at our recommendations based on the series How to defend a murderer; we are convinced to offer you a wide range of titles to enjoy mysterious crimes.

Discover the excellent work of the Scandinavian countries in our list of series available on Netflix and HBO

The chains of acts that carry terrible consequences, as would be the case in Welcome to Unmark, or a young adolescent accused of murder in Quicksand, are some of the examples that you will find in our Nordic noir list.

  • Deadwind
  • The case
  • Pray, obey, kill
  • The Valhalla Murders
  • Case
  • Beartown
  • Moving sands
  • Welcome to Unmark
  • Border area
  • Boiler
  • Equinox
  • pack
  • Young Wallander
  • Easy money
  • Sanatorium
  • The Hartung case
  • Caught up
  • The fighter
  • Ragnarok
  • The Rain
  • Caliphate
  • After death

Deadwind

We begin the journey through unknown lands with a story that starts with the discovery of a woman’s corpse buried in the site of a construction site. From here, we will follow the trail of Inspector Sofia Karppi, a woman who has just lost a loved one, in what begins as a routine crime and that could end up becoming a conspiracy involving a significant construction company of Helsinki.

  • Year: 2018
  • Seasons: 2
  • Episodes available: 20
  • Approximate duration: 45 minutes

The case

With so much drama and crime to solve, it might seem that all productions will try to pull the same thread, but, in this case, I think we have chosen a somewhat different product than usual. Yes, we will have the opportunity to follow the investigation of a dreadful murder case. However, it seems that humor, the Nordic noir style, will also be part of the path that will lead us to follow a Swedish detective and her British partner in the curious investigation.

  • Year: 2017
  • Seasons: 1
  • Episodes available: 8
  • Approximate duration: 30 minutes

Pray, obey, kill

Although it is not its greatest exponent, the Nordic genre noir also admits the introduction of another genre that has earned deserved fame in recent times, such as true crime. On this occasion, we will go back almost 20 years in time, and we will dive into the investigation of a shooting that happened in Knutby, a small town in Sweden, as two investigative journalists begin to pull a thread as surprising as it is terrifying.

  • Year: 2021
  • Seasons: 1
  • Episodes available: 6
  • Approximate duration: 50 minutes

The Valhalla Murders

The film and series of television Scandinavians enjoy excellent health and popularity worldwide, especially topics of thrillers. On this occasion, we will have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of an inspector Oslo, who will be in charge of investigating a terrible murder in Reykjavik’s port and where the serial killer appears to be related to a mysterious photograph.

  • Year: 2019
  • Seasons: 1
  • Episodes available: 8
  • Approximate duration: 45 minutes

Case

If you combine a lawyer who has been through better times, now dedicates more time to alcohol than to his real job, with a mysterious case, where an apparent suicide of a young dancer will lead an inspector to believe that there is something beyond that tragic death. As the investigation progresses, new revelations around the teenager’s figure will show that her death could be a crime.

  • Year: 2015
  • Seasons: 1
  • Episodes available: 9
  • Approximate duration: 45 minutes

Beartown

On many occasions, I understand that this is done to avoid a repetition of the narrative thread of the stories of the same genre, many series that address similar themes, introduce the elements essential through alternative plots, as could be the case of ice hockey in this series. With this sport in the background of history, we will know the return of a former player, who will bring with him the chaos caused by a terrible event, with a girl as the victim.

  • Year: 2020
  • Seasons: 1
  • Episodes available: 5
  • Approximate duration: 45 minutes

Moving sands

We are nearing the bottom of the list, and we have practically not used teenagers in the center of the plot of any of the series that we have shown you. The story, available on Netflix that is told in this title, begins with a shooting at a Stockholm high school and focuses our eyes on the presumed guilt of a young woman, Maja Norberg, who will have to live a real ordeal to get rid of a more than possible condemnation.

  • Year: 2019
  • Seasons: 1
  • Episodes available: 6
  • Approximate duration: 50 minutes

Welcome to Unmark

One of the most recent additions to the catalog, HBO, offers us a story that also moves with ease in the field of comedy. On this occasion, we will proceed to Norway, where we will meet a curious family, surrounded by nature, who will not bow down in front of anyone since the confrontation with their neighbors will be one factor that ignites the plot in its beginnings. This series can be a great starting point if you want to see something different from the classic Nordic Noir style.

  • Year: 2021
  • Seasons: 1
  • Episodes available: 8
  • Approximate duration: 40 minutes

Border area

A visit to his hometown by a police inspector turns out to be a dead end. When Nikolai investigates the possible suicide of one of the town’s inhabitants, the last words of those who saw him alive leave room for doubts. His partner, in addition, will begin to suspect that something dark and sinister is happening, with which Nikolai’s work will be in danger, although that could be the least of his worries.

  • Year: 2017
  • Seasons: 1
  • Episodes available: 8
  • Approximate duration: 40 minutes

Boiler

The red platform does not stop looking for how we cannot have a quiet time looking for series and movies, but we offer significant proposals almost without knowing it. On this occasion, Netflix brings us closer to mysterious Iceland and the volcano’s eruption that gives the series its name. A year after its eruption, a mysterious woman appears covered in ash through the glacier, and it will be from then on when the mysteries begin to emerge, leaving us wanting a second season. Pray all you know because it seems that cancellations have become fashionable.

  • Year: 2021
  • Seasons: 1
  • Chapters: 8
  • Average duration: 40 minutes

Equinox

This Scandinavian television series, where fictional crimes and police matters are mastered at an impressive level, will take us to know the story of Astrid, a young woman who begins to have terrible visions, which seem to be connected to the disappearance of her sister and his companions ago and 21 years. If you like series with a Nordic noir air, but you don’t want to see something conventional, I think this proposal, available on Netflix, will be to your liking.

  • Year: 2020
  • Seasons: 1
  • Chapters: 6
  • Average duration: 40 minutes

pack

Poland contemplates one of lesser-known HBO’s series, but one that certainly deserves a slow and detailed look. It uncovers a possible financial fraud that could connect his brother with businessman Adrian Bogusz. The story will lead us to follow Piotr, a famous investigative journalist whose most recent article has shocked public opinion. Not only will he find himself in danger from the information brought to light, but he will also come into the game family and even his brother.

  • Year: 2015
  • Seasons: 2
  • Chapters: 12
  • Average duration: 50 minutes

Young Wallander

Although we are talking about a British series, as the events narrated in it take us to Sweden, we have allowed ourselves the license to include it in the list of productions similar to Nordic Noir. On this occasion, we will follow in the footsteps of the young Kurt Wallander, a police inspector from the Ystad police station whose origins we will discover in these chapters. At the same time, he investigates a series of murders, which have as protagonists immigrants , since they seem to be cases related to hate crimes. This exciting proposal can catch the less knowledgeable viewer unprepared.

  • Year: 2020
  • Seasons: 1
  • Chapters: 6
  • Average duration: 45 minutes

Easy money

There are many ways to earn money, although if we delve deeper into those that are not found in the legal field, we may find stories like those presented by this Swedish production, ascribed to the Nordic genre noir, where the lives of a businesswoman, a gang member, and a rebellious teenager will unexpectedly bond with each other. One piece of advice, if you need investors for a new company, it is best to go to the official media, since the mafias do not usually attend to reasons when payments are not met.

  • Year: 2021
  • Seasons: 1
  • Chapters: 6
  • Average duration: 40 minutes

Sanatorium

The visit of a sister to the place where his mate is entered, a terrible sanatorium, a prison for your mind, is beginning a chilling look into the interior of the soul human. When both sisters claim to be what no one thinks they are, they must steel themselves and face dangerous situations. Aspects such as survival, identity, trust, and betrayal will raise many questions for the viewer, involving them emotionally in this exciting thriller, available on HBO.

  • Year: 2019
  • Seasons: 1
  • Chapters: 8
  • Average duration: 45 minutes

The Hartung case

Released in 2021, this television series Danish-made produced by Netflix invites us to follow a series of gruesome crimes, with the appearance of a strange doll recreated with chestnuts. When politician Rosa Hartung returns to work after her daughter’s disappearance, a gruesome murder takes place, which will be investigated by Thulin and Hess, two police officers in charge of the investigation. The disappearance of the daughter of politics and the mysterious murderer seems to be related. However, it is not known until the bizarre chestnut doll’s will reveals the secret.

  • Year: 2021
  • Seasons: 1
  • Episodes available: 6
  • Approximate duration: 60 minutes

Caught up

We continue with the series from Nordic countries. This time, we bring you an Icelandic series, also available on Netflix, where the word thriller makes more sense than ever, with a rough, classic style, but at the same time very current. The town of Siglufjörður will be where the play takes place, which begins with a fire in an abandoned factory frequented by a couple of young people, in which one of them loses his life. After a few years, a arrives on the town ferry with 100 people on board, where a is suspected crime, with which the shadow of the doubt that a murderer is quietly roaming the streets of the town grows bigger and bigger.

  • Year: 2015
  • Seasons: 2
  • Episodes available: 20
  • Approximate duration: 50 minutes

The fighter

The arrival of Danish cinema to our borders, little known until a few years ago, is a blessing since we can enjoy series as enjoyable as the one at hand this time, available on Netflix, and which tells the story of a veteran War that ends up joining the widow of his best friend to infiltrate a dangerous gang of bikers in Copenhagen. The woman, a policewoman from the city itself, will try to inquire about the violence generated in the gang’s surroundings while the man begins his rise in the organization criminal.

  • Year: 2018
  • Seasons: 1
  • Episodes available: 6
  • Approximate duration: 50 minutes

Ragnarok

The inclusion of a diversity of countries in the catalog of Netflix is a blessing, not only for the number of titles that enter the red platform each month but for understanding different cultures through the eyes of those who participate in each production. The story that concerns us takes us to Norway, where it seems that humanity could be coming to an end, although a remarkable young man could prevent evil from ravaging the territory.

  • The year 2012
  • Seasons: 1
  • Episodes available: 6
  • Approximate duration: 40 minutes

The Rain

As you can see, when you read these lines, humanity does not usually come out very well in the science fiction stories that we present to you regularly. On this occasion, a mysterious rain will carry the human being against the ropes, although the thread of hope soon appears in the adolescent form. Two brothers, one of them who seems immune to the damn rain, could hold the key to stopping this strange disease. The tone of the series is dark, although it hints at values ​​such as friendship and hope when it is easy to sink into the negative.

  • Year: 2018
  • Seasons: 3
  • Episodes available: 20
  • Approximate duration: 40 minutes

Caliphate

It might seem that Sweden and Syria have no apparent relationship. Still, this television series proves a connection, macabre where they exist, since we will get fully involved in a plot plotting a possible terrorist attack on Swedish soil, having to the dangerous ISIS as an organization pulling the strings. Kalifat will put our hearts in a fist while we enjoy the tension of production as attractive as it is different in its approach to a complex world.

  • Year: 2020
  • Seasons: 1
  • Episodes available: 8
  • Approximate duration: 45 minutes

After death

Under the subtitle of Nobody Dies in Skarnes, this Norwegian television series, available on Netflix, allows us to wonder what would happen if a person could return from the dead, in this case, the protagonist of the story called Live, but what he does with a thirst for blood that seems to have no end. In turn, the family funeral home seems to go through a rough patch; imagine that people suddenly stopped dying, with which their employees wonder what is happening. If you like stories that mix the fantastic with the mundane, I think you should give this a try excellent series Norwegian.

  • Year: 2021
  • Seasons: 1
  • Episodes available: 6
  • Approximate duration: 45 minutes