Best Norwegian crime movies

22 July (2018)

On 22 July 2011, neo-Nazi terrorist Anders Behring Breivik murdered 77 young people attending a Labour Party Youth Camp on Utøya Island outside of Oslo. This three-part story focuses on the survivors, the political leadership of Norway, and the lawyers involved.

Once Upon a Time in Norway (2007)

Interviews with central members of early Norwegian black metal bands about Mayhem, the early black metal scene and the crimes they committed.

Varg Veum - Black Sheep (2011)

Varg Veum promises his girlfriend that he will find her sister who has vanished.

Insomnia (1997)

Detectives Jonas and Erik are called to the midnight sun country of northern Norway to investigate a recent homicide, but their plan to arrest the killer goes awry, and Jonas mistakenly shoots Erik. The suspect escapes, and a frightened Jonas pins Erik's death on the fugitive. Jonas continues to pursue the killer as he seeks to protect himself; however, his mounting guilt and the omnipresent sun plague him with an insomnia that affects his sanity.

Congo (2018)

In the spring of 2009 two Norwegian adventurers, Joshua French and Tjostolv Moland, are accused of killing their hired chauffeur just before crossing into the eastern Congo. The following manhunt starts a political and diplomatic headache.

The Veil of Twilight (2014)

The investigation of a mysterious serial-killer in a mountain village, set in Norway in the mid 1300s.

Haunted (2017)

Set in the beautiful winter landscape of Norway, Haunted follows Catherine as she travels back to her old family estate after her father's death. When locals start telling stories of disappearances and possible murders, she is forced to confront her family's mysterious past.

Emergency Landing (1952)

An American bomber is shot down on the Norwegian coast during World War II. The airmen bail out and land at different locations. In spite of the German search for them, the Norwegian resistance picks them up and hides them in the attic of the local church, a center of operations. Things become tense, however, when the hideout is spotted by a notorious collaborator, and soon the protagonist, Hans, has to get the airmen to Sweden.

Kaksen på Øverland (1920)

In beautiful Telemark, a young boy grows up on a rich farm. To his fathers dislike, he wants to be a fiddle player, just like the son at the poorer neighboring farm. One day the father is found dead.

Det grovmaskiga nätet (2000)

Fante-Anne (1920)

The story of an orphaned girl brought up by the Storlein family. Young Anne (Asta Nielsen) is brought as an infant to the Storlein farm by her mother, who has been traveling and is in need of a rest. The two are turned away at the door, and the mother takes her young daughter to the barn to sleep. The farmhand Jon discovers them in the morning but the mother has not made it through the night, so young Anne is taken in and raised by the family.

Rosalina (2018)

The man on top of the criminal underworld has a crisis of love.

Them and Us (1976)

Lasse & Geir, two suburban boys in their late teens, kick up a row on the bus into town, making the driver call the police. They get arrested and have to spend the night in jail. The next morning they are sent home - Geir to his alcoholic mother, Lasse to his disillusioned and abusive father.

Victoria Must Go (2024)

A satirical look at class divisions, in which the wealthy family feels privileged enough to persuade a law-abiding immigrant to do the job of assassin.

Cellophane (1998)

Marianne visits her dying father in the hospital who tells of a box of old letters that she must promise to destroy. Marianne chooses to do the opposite, and reads them instead. There she finds shocking accusations against her father, who allegedly murdered a young woman 25 years ago.

Hodiak (1994)

Hilmar Hodiak comes home conspicuously after eight years abroad, apparently to attend his mother's funeral. He initiates an affair with Simone, the maid aboard the ship which brings him home. A series of events take place to explain the deeper reasons for his homecoming as he tries to reestablish contact with his estranged wife Carole and Stian, the son he has never seen.

Bunch of Five (1998)

Jonas and Emir are members of a criminal gang of 14-15 year-olds in Oslo. Emir has slight brain-damage after being beaten by his father as a 5-year-old, and Jonas' biggest problem is stopping Emir from hitting people on the head. One day, they are offered a job by a gang of drug-dealers: Deliver a packet of heroin to one guy and beat up another. This is the start of a chain of events that sends their lives spiraling out of control.

Blackmail for Beginners (2011)

In desperate need of $150,000 for his father's heart transplant, Simen tries to blackmail a dysfunctional robber.

Cry in the Woods (2004)

An unfortunate bank robber takes an escaped mental patient, wanted for murder, as hostage.

Hair of the Dog (1988)

A stolen bicycle case ends with drunken detective/lawyer Alexander 'Lex' Larsen having to clear Vigdis Wang of a murder charge. Unofficially based on the book Din, til døden, by Gunnar Staalesen.

Two Suspicious People (1950)

Two police officers lie dead. The swede Ekstrøm and the youngster Gustav flees the scene of the crime. Based on a real double murder in 1926, this movie remained almost unseen for 57 years. When the film was set to premiere in 1950 one of the murderers, having served a full sentence, went to court to have the film stopped.

Intruders (2017)

Twenty-year-old Thomas Lindgren gets out of a youth rehab clinic, after being falsely accused of raping his ex-girlfriend's younger sister. He is looking forward to a new life and the summer in Oslo with his friends - But soon, he finds himself beaten, tied up and held hostage by the victims father who is desperate to find the truth.

Lethal Lies (1992)

For the second time the two curious boys named Pelle and Proffen get mixed up in dangerous business.

Glass Dolls (2014)

A mother reports her student daughter Lisa missing, but detective Aslak Eira is getting too little information, and she is found in a lake. The more they investigate, the less they seem to understand. Then Lisa's best friend goes missing too.

The Sunset Boys (1995)

Ernest, Ted and August fulfill their friend Carl's dying wish and take him to Heidelberg, where they all first met 45 years ago, to see his old girlfriend one last time. However, the locals won't talk about her, due to a WW2 secret.

Saken Ruth Vang (1981)

One morning Ruth Vang comes running out of the apartment, falls down the stairs and is left unconscious. In her apartment the body of the land lord, Otto Hagenberg is discovered. Helmer and Sigurdson search to uncover the killer.

Gjest Baardsen (1939)

Filmen foregår i en tid preget av hungersnød. Norge har vært i krig med England og Sverige og tidene er vanskelige. Gjest Baardsen har kommet i klammeri med loven, visstnok på grunn av en bagatell. Men Gjest bryter seg ut, i stedet er det lensmannen som blir låst fast med håndjern. Og Gjest flykter stadig med lensmenn og godtfolk på slep.

Remonstrance (1972)

A meta-film about a film and the common man in our own political reality. A reality that is just scenes of a film without any cinematic development, but which might be plain reality tomorrow.

Rape (1971)

It's winter in a suburb. A housewife is brutally raped. A young woman becomes a victim of attempted rape. The Police tighten noose on Anders, a young road worker who was seen on the site in both cases. The two women think they recognize him in the lineup, and police investigators use all their strength to solve the case. Anders is a common and simple individual. He could be any youth. The meeting with the ongoing investigation and the solid judiciary, forces him out of a seemingly monotonous, habitual life and forces him to react and think.

Skulle det dukke opp flere lik, er det bare å ringe... (1970)

Cleaning lady Lilly Hansen finds her employer, managing director Martinsen, with a knife in his back. The police is summoned and Chief Inspector Bakker is put on the case, despite suffering from the flu. When he arrives at the scene, the body is gone, to Lilly Hansen's dismay. Shortly after a body is found in nearby Palace Park...