Quicksand (TV series)


Quicksand is a Swedish psychology-crime drama television series, based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Malin Persson Giolito. The first season, consisting of six episodes, was released on 5 April 2019 on Netflix and is its first Swedish-language series. The series stars Hanna Ardéhn, Felix Sandman, William Spetz, Ella Rappich, David Dencik, Reuben Sallmander, Maria Sundbom, Rebecka Hemse, Arvid Sand, Helena af Sandeberg and Anna Björk.
The series was commissioned in 2017 following the immense popularity of Giolito's novel.

Synopsis

A school shooting takes place at Djursholm 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 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 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

Recurring

Production

Development

On 7 September 2017, it was announced that Netflix 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 in Berlin, Germany.

Release

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

Reception

In a review of the premiere episode, Joel Keller from Decider 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 2019 for her performance as Maja.