# The Killing (2007)

> A Copenhagen detective and her team pursue a single murder case over twenty-four hours per episode while the victim's family endures its own grief.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/29787

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 40
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, mystery, drama
- Created by: Søren Sveistrup
- Network: DR1
- Cast: Sofie Gråbøl, Søren Malling, Lars Mikkelsen, Marie Askehave, Bjarne Henriksen, Ann Eleonora Jørgensen, Michael Moritzen, Nicolaj Kopernikus
- TMDB rating: 8.4/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0826760/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: bleak, brooding, melancholic, tense, contemplative

## What critics say

Audiences broadly acclaim The Killing for its slow-burning procedural, its dark tone, its Copenhagen photography and its lead performance, though the uneven second season draws reservations.

## Synopsis

The Killing (2007-2012) is a Danish police procedural series created by Søren Sveistrup for DR1. Detective Inspector Sarah Lund (Sofie Gråbøl) leads her team at the Copenhagen main police department, with Detective Jan Meyer (Søren Malling) as her steady partner and Troels Hartmann (Lars Mikkelsen) a political figure entangled in the investigations. Each season follows a different murder case, with every one-hour episode covering a single day of the inquiry, so the investigation unfolds in tight, deliberate steps. The engine is the search for a killer against wrong turns, false suspects and mounting political pressure, while the victim's family is shown in equal detail, their grief paralleling the detectives' obsession. Shot against the rain-soaked streets and grey harbour of Copenhagen, the series builds a bleak, contemplative mood that is tense and melancholic rather than flashy. Its three seasons form a serialized arc in which order matters, and its layered plotting rewards close attention. Fans of The Bridge and Broadchurch will find resonance in its nordic noir sensibility, and viewers of Twin Peaks will recognise its atmosphere of small, troubled communities hiding dark secrets.

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- [Wisting (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/75013)
- [Unit One (2000)](https://ember.film/tv/11107)
- [White Sands (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/103451)
- [Wallander (2005)](https://ember.film/tv/29246)
- [Darkness: Those Who Kill (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/74334)
- [The Eagle: A Crime Odyssey (2004)](https://ember.film/tv/2729)
- [Springfloden (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/134360)
- [The Killing (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/31678)

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