# Dark Woods (2020)

> A Hamburg police chief spends almost three decades chasing the truth about his sister's disappearance, which leads him toward a serial killer.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/94812

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 6
- Episode runtime: 45 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama, mystery
- Created by: Sven Bohse
- Network: Das Erste
- Cast: Matthias Brandt, Silke Bodenbender, Karoline Schuch, August Wittgenstein, Nicholas Ofczarek, Jenny Schily, Hanno Koffler, Andreas Lust
- TMDB rating: 7.4/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10776484/

## Ember's analysis

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

## Synopsis

Dark Woods (2020) is a German crime miniseries created by Sven Bohse for Das Erste, a six-episode limited series with a grounded, brooding register. Matthias Brandt plays Hamburg LKA chief Thomas Bethge, whose sister vanishes without a trace in the summer of 1989, and the story follows his obsessive, decades-spanning search for the truth. Silke Bodenbender, Karoline Schuch, and August Wittgenstein are among the other principal players who help carry the investigation through its shifting timelines. The engine of the series is a personal grief that refuses to close: Bethge's quiet persistence through dead ends, interviews, and old files gradually turns the cold case into a trail that leads toward a serial killer. Each episode builds methodically, favoring patient interrogation and atmospheric pacing over spectacle. Its German setting, grounded in police offices and the German countryside, carries a melancholic, unsettling mood. Viewers who enjoyed the slow burn of Dark, the moody procedural of The Killing, or the Nordic noir of The Bridge will find a similar resonance in its patient, character-driven mystery.

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