''Quicksand'' () is a Swedish

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

television series, based on the 2016 novel of the same name by

Malin Persson Giolito Anna Malin Ulrika Persson Giolito (born 25 September 1969 in Stockholm) is a Swedish author and lawyer. She is the daughter of novelist and criminologist, Leif G. W. Persson. Persson Giolito wrote the award-winning book '' Störst av allt'' (''Q ...

. The first season, consisting of six episodes, was released on 5 April 2019 on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

and is its first Swedish-language series. The series stars Hanna Ardéhn,

Felix Sandman Karl Felix Wilhelm Sandman (born 25 October 1998) is a Swedish singer and actor. He is best known as a member of the boy band FO&O with two studio albums ''Off the Grid (The Fooo album), Off the Grid'' (2014) and ''FO&O (album), FO&O'' (2017). H ...

, William Spetz, Ella Rappich,

David Dencik Karl David Sebastian Dencik (; born 31 October 1974) is a Swedish-Danish actor. He has acted in both Swedish and Danish films, his break-through in Sweden being his role in the mini-series '' Lasermannen'' and has then had major roles in English- ...

, Reuben Sallmander, Maria Sundbom,

Rebecka Hemse Ingrid Rebecka Elisabet Hemse (born 4 August 1975) is a Swedish actress. She is best known for her role as Martin Beck's daughter Inger. She works at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. In 2008, she was Ofelia in Staffan Valdemar Holm's t ...

, Arvid Sand, Helena af Sandeberg and

Anna Björk Anna Cecilia Björk (born 12 March 1970 in Trollhättan) is a Sweden, Swedish actor, actress. Now she works at the Royal Dramatic Theatre. Selected filmography *1989 - ''Flickan vid stenbänken'' (TV) *1993 - ''Chefen fru Ingeborg'' (TV) *1996 - ...

. The series was commissioned in 2017 following the immense popularity of Giolito's novel.

Synopsis

A school shooting takes place at

Djursholm Djursholm () is one of four suburban districts in, and the seat of Danderyd Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden. Djursholm is included in the multi-municipal Stockholm urban area. Djursholm is divided into a number of different areas: Djursho ...

senior high school. At the age of 18, Maja Norberg is arrested and suspected of murder, while her ex-boyfriend, Sebastian "Sibbe" Fagerman, is dead at the scene. Maja admits the murder at an early stage but denies the crimethe trial is rather about ''why'' the murder was committed than ''whether'' it was committed. Like in the novel, the story is told from Maja's perspective, with events flashing back and forth between the present day and her memories of events that led up to the shooting. The six-episode series answers the main question concerning the extent of her complicity: As the only student left alive after the shooting, did she conspire with her boyfriend who planned the attack or is she an innocent bystander? Fagerman dying leaves Maja as the sole focus of international media attention. ''Quicksand'' is not based on a real-life event but the story was written to reflect real-life class inequalities that its creators saw in Sweden.

Cast

Main

* Hanna Ardéhn as Maja Norberg *

as Sebastian "Sibbe" Fagerman * William Spetz as Samir Said * Ella Rappich as Amanda Steen *

as Peder Sander * Reuben Sallmander as Claes Fagerman * Maria Sundbom as Lena Pärsson *

as Jeanette Nilsson * Arvid Sand as Lars-Gabriel "Labbe" Sager-Crona * Helena af Sandeberg as Mimmi Steen *

as Camilla Norberg

Recurring

* Iris Herngren as Lina Norberg * Kalled Mustonen as Kalle * Marall Nasiri as Susse Zanjani *

Christopher Wollter Claes Brian Christopher Wollter (born 5 February 1972) is a Swedish actor and singer. He has had roles in the Swedish productions of ''West Side Story'' and ''Miss Saigon''. He has also appeared in several television productions. Early life Wol ...

as Erik Norberg * Jeanette Holmgren as Mags * Evin Ahmad as Evin Orak * Alva Bratt as Mela *

Louise Edlind Sandra ''Louise'' Maud Edlind Friberg (born Louise Edlind on 15 July 1946) is a Sweden, Swedish actress, Model (person), model and politician. Acting career As an actress she became popular as Malin Melkersson, the kind, warm and beautiful older ...

as Majlis * Astrid Plynning as Sofie * Vehid Abdullahi * Suheib Saleh as Dennis * Sebastian Sporsén as Per Jonsson *

Shanti Roney Shanti Grau Roney (born 24 November 1970) is a Swedish actor. While his film credits include nearly twenty movies, most of these have been limited to a domestic or Scandinavian release. One notable exception is Lukas Moodysson's film ''Together' ...

as Christer * Moa Lindström as classmate, funeral visitor and club visitor. * Tom Boustedt as classmate * Savannah Hanneryd as club visitor * Ray Nordin as club visitor

Episodes

Production

Development

On 7 September 2017, it was announced that

had given the production a series order for a first season. The series is created by Pontus Edgren and Martina Håkansson who are both credited as executive producers. In March 2019, it was confirmed that the series would premiere on 5 April 2019.

Casting

In July 2018, it was announced that Hanna Ardéhn, William Spetz, Felix Sandman, David Dencik, Reuben Sallmander, Anna Björk, Christopher Wollter, Evin Ahmad, Maria Sundbom, Rebecka Hemse, Helena af Sandeberg, Shanti Roney and Ella Rappich had been cast in the series.

Premiere

In February 2019, the series held its official premiere with the screening of the first two episodes at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Release

On 27 March 2019, the official trailer for the series was released. On 5 April 2019, the series had its release on

Reception

In a review of the premiere episode, Joel Keller from ''

Decider Decider is both a real word and a "Bushism". It may refer to: * ''Decider'' (website), a pop culture website operated by the ''New York Post'' * '' Bill Maher: The Decider'', a stand-up comedy special * Decider (Turing machine), a Turing machin ...

'' described the film as a "pretty standard crime drama, albeit one that's pretty well-written."

Awards and nominations

Ardéhn won Best Actress at

Kristallen Kristallen () is the official annual Swedish television award, administered by the foundation . It was created in 2005 by television producers SVT, TV3, TV4, Kanal 5 and UR. The trophy The award trophy, created by Mårten Claesson, Eero ...

2019 for her performance as Maja.

References

External links

* * {{Netflix original ended series (2019–present) 2010s crime drama television series 2010s high school television series 2010s Swedish television series 2010s teen drama television series 2019 Swedish television series debuts Television controversies in Sweden Crime thriller television series Mass murder in fiction Nonlinear narrative television series Television shows about rape Serial drama television series Swedish crime television series Swedish drama television series Netflix television dramas Swedish-language television shows Swedish teen drama television series Television series about teenagers Television series about dysfunctional families Television series about bullying Television shows based on Swedish novels Television shows set in Stockholm