Cry Wolf

A marvelous story that really has a grip on the viewer.

A child writes a concerning story and her teacher contacts the state that is removing the children from home. Bjarne Henriksen as the social worker is brilliant and the girl Holly (Flora Ofelia Hofmann Lindahl) is very trustworthy but it is the same with all the actors. It's high quality.

I doubt how much rewatching value it has and if you are not living in a country the has the same system as Denmark it might seem strange(?).

This production had me hooked from early on and just got better and better. Terrific acting, a compelling story that is both frightening and moving, but very believable. A credit to all involved.

Nu har jeg kun set 2 afsnit. Jeg plejer normalt ikke at gå efter danske serier. Men den her fangede mig allerede ved første afsnit. Skuespilleriet, især fra børnene der er med, er rigtig godt. Historien, hvad der sker osv. er også spot on.

Kan klart anbefalde den, hvis nogen søger noget i den her stil at se.

Well, I have to declare an interest here - I did. I worked for about 15 years in childcare services dealing with deprived, refugee or abused adolescents. This series really hit home to me, even though it was set in Denmark and the procedures are different from those of the UK. What was not different was the blanket policy that was beginning to be applied during my time in Social Services in the UK and obviously pertains in Denmark too, that a "victim" must be listened to and believed. It's a policy that I always had qualms about and I personally saw several instances of false accusations affecting (fortunately not destroying) lives. Unfortunately, such credulity leads to the most dreadful results on occasion as in the case of Carl Beech who ruined the lives and reputations of prominent people because he was "believed".

So, "Ulven Kommer". The title "Cry Wolf" must have been chosen so that we would, unike family unit representative Lars Madsen, look at Holly's allegations with a critical eye. Plot devices lead us further along this path - we see how Holly is manipulative, that Lars breaks the rules, that little Theo calls his sister a liar.

But there is something wrong in that family. What is it? We get a hint in episode four and by episode six, we are sure, as is Lars. The overhearing of a conversation imputing a pecuniary motive for the foster placement leads to a family reunion after the case conference. However, events lead to a grisly conclusion and Lars is vindicated after his transfer to desk duties.

This series really played with my emotions. I was cross that so much credence was given to the allegations, I was upset that the abuse could have happened, I was devastated at the enforced break up of the family. I really didn't know whom to believe for the first few episodes until we saw the scene when the family's problem was revealed.

I must say I was not impressed by the Danish system. It only worked here in the series because of a maverick social worker cum family counsellor. However, to hear that over 98% of cases are won by the municipality and children are removed even after a police exoneration and no criminal charges was a shocker to me. If the scenes at the family court were true and the judge was really so pressed for time that late documents could only be examined by the family lawyer with the family for 5 minutes , then that is pretty scandalous. The system looked impressive with its multidisciplinary meetings, but if the results are preordained in favour of removal so overwhelmingly then the case conferences that included the judge are simply a rubber stamp. Things are quite different in the UK where there is more emphasis on reconciliation, supervision and support while having regard to the paramount interests of the child.

From the other reviews here, I guess one doesn't have to have a social work background to like this excellent series. I think I looked at it differently from the way a lay viewer might do. I would recommend it to anyone at all. I'm so glad I saw it.

This is why I could never be a social worker espicially in the family unit. It must be one of the toughest jobs. I would constantly be beating myself up wondering if I made the right choice no matter what choice I made. "No one get's it right every time" they say, but could you live with the consequence of a wrong choice?

Watching this series is a good choice though.