''Quicksand'' ( sv, Störst av allt, italic=yes) is a Swedish

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...

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'' ('' ...

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

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

and is its first Swedish-language series. The series stars

Hanna Ardéhn Hanna Margareta Ardéhn (born 4 October 1995) is a Swedish actress. She is best known for her role as Maja Norberg in the first Swedish Netflix original series '' Quicksand'', which premiered on 5 April 2019. Biography Hanna Ardéhn has appeared ...

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'' (2014) and ''FO&O'' (2017). He plays Sebastian Fagerman in the first Swed ...

, William Spetz,

Ella Rappich Ella Maria Eia Rappich (born 23 May 2000, in South Africa), is a Swedish actress. Rappich grew up in Sigtuna, a suburb to Stockholm in Sweden, and got her first role by chance when the production company FLX visited her school. She made her deb ...

David Dencik Karl David Sebastian Dencik (born 31 October 1974) is a Danish-Swedish actor. He has acted in both Swedish and Danish films, and has also had major roles in English-language films and series including ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' (2011), ''The G ...

, Reuben Sallmander,

Maria Sundbom Maria Irene Sundbom (born 19 May 1975, in Uppsala) is a Swedish actress. She belongs to the ensemble of Uppsala City Theatre. Filmography *2005 - ''Lasermannen (TV series)'' *2006 - ''LasseMajas detektivbyrå (TV series)'' *2007 - ''Solstorm'' *20 ...

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 Karl Arvid Sand (born 16 January 1998 in Virestad) is a Swedish actor. Sand was cast for two short films before he got his big breakthrough in 2019. He made his debut 2017 by playing the main role in the short film ''Stjärnhimmel'', produced by ...

Helena af Sandeberg Helena Beata Maria af Sandeberg (Solna, 1 September 1971) is a Swedish actress. Early life Helena af Sandeberg was born on 1 September 1971 in Solna, Stockholm County, Sweden and grew up in Rotebro, Stockholm County, Sweden. She studied at Söd ...

and

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

. 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: Djursh ...

senior high school. At the age of 18, Maja Norberg is arrested and suspected of murder. The protagonist admits the murder at an early stage but denies the crime – the trial is rather about ''why'' the murder was committed than ''whether'' it was committed. Like in the novel, the story is told from the main character'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, himself, dies in the shooting leaving 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

as Maja Norberg *

as Sebastian "Sibbe" Fagerman * William Spetz as Samir Said *

as Amanda Steen *

as Peder Sander * Reuben Sallmander as Claes Fagerman *

as Lena Pärsson *

as Jeanette Nilsson *

as Lars-Gabriel "Labbe" Sager-Crona *

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 Evin Ahmad ('';'' born ) is a Kurdish-Swedish actress and author. Early life Elvin Ahmad was born on 8 June 1990 in Stockholm, Sweden. Her parents are Kurds. Her father is an actor from Sulaymaniyah in Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, tran ...

as Evin Orak * Alva Bratt as Mela *

Louise Edlind Sandra Louise Maud Edlind Friberg (born Louise Edlind on 15 July 1946) is a Swedish actress, model and politician. Acting career As an actress she became popular as Malin Melkersson, the kind, warm and beautiful older sister in the popular 1964 ...

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 (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

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

References

External links

* * {{Netflix original current series 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 Rape in television Serial drama television series Swedish crime television series Swedish drama television series Swedish-language Netflix original programming Television series about teenagers Television series about dysfunctional families Television series about bullying Television shows based on Swedish novels Television shows set in Stockholm