Thrillers Come in Threes

This January, MHz Choice features a trio of thrillers from France, Germany and Austria. In The Island of 30 Coffins, we meet Christine (Virginie Ledoyen, Nona and Her Daughters) on her way back to her hometown on the island of Sarek. Christine’s reason for returning is as heartbreaking as the sequence of events she triggers upon her arrival are sinister. She left Sarek 15 years ago after the stillbirth of her son. Unexpectedly she is sent a video from an anonymous source showing proof that her son survived his birth. The townsfolk of Sarek are not thrilled to see Christine return save for Stéphane (Stanley Weber), the local policeman who still harbors feelings for (the married) Christine after all these years. Her inquiries into the events surrounding her son’s birth begin to reveal a local prophecy with progressively more tragic results. 

The past also haunts the plot of Austrian thriller The Winemaker. Matteo (Tobias Moretti, Inspector Rex, Backwoods Crime) is by all appearances a successful winemaker living in northern Italy. His life is upended and family threatened after an old acquaintance from his Camorra days shows up at the vineyard. Rounding out the trio of thrillers is German drama Breaking Point, which starts with the fallout from a mass shooting in a shopping mall. The series then progresses backwards in time to uncover the motives of several possible perpetrators, who were all driven to a “breaking point” in their lives. Debt, failed relationships, stalled careers, and family struggles all play a role to push each possible gunman (or gun woman) to violence.

Also returning this month is the next chapter in the Italian political drama 1994: Berlusconi Rising and Season 4 of fan-favorite Professor T.

Ladies Who Lead

January also features a pair of female-centric series with The Shift, a Danish medical drama starring Sofie Gråbøl (The Killing) and Fosca Innocenti, an Italian crime drama starring Vanessa Incontrada (Captain Maria). These ladies are each at the top of their game in very different circumstances. In The Shift, Sofie Gråbøl plays Ella, a senior midwife in one of Denmark’s busiest maternity wards. Each of the eight episodes chronicles the ups and downs of the medical staff and patients over the course of one month. Complicated births, unexpected pregnancies, and clashing medical opinions often push the staff to the limit. In the midst of heated arguments and close calls also come moments of unbridled joy as skilled hands usher in new life. The Shift is not all life and death and has some humor sprinkled in at the expense of the one male midwife student, Vilhelm (Patrick A. Hansen). The Shift was created by Lone Sherfig, the Oscar-nominated director of An Education. 

Meanwhile, Fosca Innocenti lightens the January color palette in the shade of an idyllic Tuscan estate. Deputy police chief Fosca Innocenti is a horse-riding career woman who runs an all-female police unit. She has a literal nose for things, whether it’s blooming flowers on her estate or the scent of a guilty party. In each episode, while leading investigations she’s also coming to terms with complicated feelings for Cosimo (Francesco Arca), her smoldering wine-bar owning best friend from childhood.

Based on Books

Spanning different countries and time periods, MHz Choice has three new series adaptations of well-known novelists. Italian series Once Upon a Time in Vigata is based on the novels of Andrea Camilleri, who is best known for creating Detective Montalbano. The three movie-length episodes are set in Vigata, Sicily in the 1880s. Each episode combines the beautiful scenery of Sicily with witty mysteries as only Camilleri can tell them.

Written in the 1880s by Émile Zola but set in the 1860s, Germinal, chronicles a coal miner’s strike in Northern France. The strike is led by Étienne Lantier (Louis Peres), a young new miner with revolutionary ideals and a soft spot for the pretty Catherine (Rose-Marie Perreault). Étienne is initially taken under the wing of veteran miner Maheu (Thierry Godard, Spiral, A French Village) before becoming incensed by the conditions and treatment the miners endure. The clash between workers and management spins out of control, impacting the lives of the local villagers and triggering military intervention. 

The final literary-inspired series is the Swedish interpretation of Agatha Christie’s Hjerson. Reality TV producer Klara Sandberg (Hanna Alström, The Crown) is determined to make better television than the increasingly ridiculous reality show fare she sells to networks. She seeks out the retired Sven Hjerson (Johan Rheborg, The Days the Flowers Bloom) to be the star of her next project. Before Sven meets Klara, he happens to board a ferry where a mysterious murder takes place. Much to Klara’s delight, she and Sven become the unlikeliest of detective duos.