# When the Dust Settles (2020)

> Eight strangers in Copenhagen find their lives entangled in the aftermath of a terrorist attack.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/83174

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 10
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama
- Created by: Ida Maria Rydén, Dorthe Warnø Høgh
- Network: DR1
- Cast: Katinka Lærke Petersen, Karen-Lise Mynster, Jacob Lohmann, Malin Crépin, Arian Kashef, Viola Martinsen, Peter Christoffersen, Filippa Suenson
- TMDB rating: 7.7/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9280016/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: somber, intimate, emotionally raw, restrained, sincere

## What critics say

Audiences rate the limited Danish drama positively for its emotionally heavy, interwoven portrayal of strangers reeling from a terrorist attack.

## Synopsis

When the Dust Settles (2020) is a Danish national-television drama series created by Ida Maria Rydén and Dorthe Warnø Høgh for DR1. This ten-episode, one-season limited series follows eight strangers in present-day Copenhagen whose lives and fates intertwine after a terrorist attack shakes the city. Katinka Lærke Petersen plays Ginger, Karen-Lise Mynster plays Elisabeth Hoffmann, and Jacob Lohmann plays Morten Dalsgård, with Malin Crépin, Arian Kashef, and Viola Martinsen among the other principal figures. Rather than a single investigation, the engine is the slow, human work of living with a shared wound: grief, fear, and the small connections that form between people who would otherwise never meet. Each hour moves between intersecting households and workplaces, tracking how one violent day ripples outward into everyday routines. The register is somber, intimate, and emotionally raw, with a patient, observational style that suits viewers who admire the Nordic noir tradition and character-driven European drama. Fans of The Killing and Babylon Berlin will find resonance in its moral seriousness and its interest in urban life under strain. The tone stays sincere and restrained throughout, favoring quiet moments over spectacle.

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