The Breakthrough

"The Breakthough" (2024) was based on a brutal double murder of two people (an 8 year old boy and a 56 year old woman( that took 16 years to solve.  They actually got some DNA from the killer, but checking national and international data bases could not find a match.  The breakthrough came when the chief investigator learned of an American genealogist helped solve an American crime.  Seeking a local expert (with his own unique strategy) they did find the culprit.

The script apparently is based on the investigator and the genealogist and are fairly accurate.  Emphasis was on the victim families, but very little on the perpetrator.  But with the victim families they fictionalized to make it more interesting.

The investigator, John Sundin is depicted as being obsessed to the point his wife leaves him and he has an awkward relationship with his son.  Paralleling this is the family of the genealogist, Per Skogkvist who is also obsessed (and feels unappreciated) and is also a bit stressed.  The two men clash as the investigator feels more urgency and the genealogist wants to be more careful.  

A reporter, Stina Eriksson brings up the issue of privacy as the new method is to link up to family genealogical charts and threatens to reveal if she isn't given a private interview with the genealogist and wants the identify of the suspect.  The genealogist only agrees if she (and investigating staff) agree to a swab test to determine DNA.  Ironically the reporter's DNA provides the link that solves the murder.

Privacy can be abused.  Personally, misunderstandings are possible and can do great harm. 

What makes this series worth watching are the talented people involved.  Here are a few of them.

Lisa Siwe was the director.  She has 12 credits as director, 1 for writing and 1 for the editorial department including "The Bridge" (2011).

 Oskar Soderlund was the writer.  He has 11 writing credits, 7 for the additional crew and 2 for the script and continuity department.

Lejla Besic was the producer.  She has 5 credits for producing, 13 for additional crew and 14 for production manager including "Bergman Island" (2021).

Matti Bye composed the music.  He was a pianist who was given an opportunity to play piano for old silent films.  Matti's  improvisations made him realize he was now a composer and he decided to pursue that direction.  He has 51 composing credits and 13 for the music department including "Everlasting Moments" (2008) and "The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared" (2013).

Rasmus Arrildt was the cinematographer.  He has 36 credits for cinematography and 26 for the camera and electrical department.

Marinella Angusti was an editor.  She has 29 editor credits, 7 for the editorial department and 1 for writing.

 Sara Tornkvist was a casting director.  She has 67 casting director credit, 20 for casting department and 3 for assistant director including "A Royal Affair" (20121) and "The Hunt" (2012).  Both films are coverd in blog on Mads Mikkelsen http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2014/05/mads-mikkelsen-helping-denmark.html

Peter Eggers played John Sundin, the investigator.  He has 47 acting credits.

Mattias Nordkvist played Per Skogkvist, the genealogist. He has acting credits including "The Wife" (2017).

Annika Hallin plays Karin.  She has 66 acting credits including "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" (2009),  "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" (2009),  " The Girl Who Played with Fire" (2009) and "Drottningoffret" (2011).

Jessica Liedberg played Francy, a fellow investigator.  She has 40 acting credits.  

Julia Sporre played Stina Eriksson, a reporter.  She has 28 acting credits and 4 for the script and continuation department including "The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo" (2009) and "The Square" (2017).

Bahador Foladi played Saad Abbas, the faher of the 8 year old victim.  His family left Iran and moved to Sweden when he was 3 years old.  He has 21 acting credits including "Tehran" (2022) and "Kandahar" (2023).

"The Breakthrough" (2025) is available subtitled and dubbed on Netflix.
 

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  They are not necessarily a recommendation, but generally I found them worthy of my time.