Department Q: The Keeper of Lost Causes (2013)

Police inspector Carl Mørck is put in charge of a department of cold cases, joined only by his assistant, Assad. They dig into a case about a disappeared woman.

Director:

Mikkel Nørgaard

Writers:

Jussi Adler-Olsen (novel), Nikolaj Arcel

Stars:

Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Per Scheel Krüger, Troels Lyby

3 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nikolaj Lie Kaas	...	Carl Mørck
Per Scheel Krüger	...	Anker
Troels Lyby	...	Hardy Henningsen
Øyvind B. Fabricius Holm	...	Død mand
Søren Pilmark	...	Marcus Jacobsen
Divya Das	...	Nyhedsvært
Anne Bærskog Hauger	...	Viggas Rasmussen (voice) (as Anne Hauger)
Fares Fares	...	Assad
Sonja Richter	...	Merete Lynggaard
Rasmus Botoft	...	Tage Baggesen
Patricia Schumann	...	Søs Norup
Marie Mondrup	...	Helle Andersen
Mikkel Boe Følsgaard	...	Uffe Lynggaard
Kenneth Carmohn	...	Mand på færge
Michael Brostrup	...	Børge Bak

Storyline

Chief detective Carl Mørck and his assistant Assad become involved in a five-year-old case concerning the mystery of politician Merete Lynggaard's disappearance - a journey that takes them deep into the undercurrent of abuse and malice that lurks beneath the polished surface of Scandinavia.

---

Plot Keywords:

missing person | copenhagen denmark | hyperbaric chamber | walking in on sex | woman on top | 

---

Taglines:

A missing politician, a case reopened.

---

Genres:

Crime | Mystery | Thriller

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Denmark Germany Sweden Norway

Language:

Danish Swedish Arabic

Release Date:

17 June 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Department Q: The Keeper of Lost Causes

Filming Locations:

Bredeneek, Rastorf, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

€5,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Zentropa Entertainments20, Film i Väst, Zentropa Entertainments

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

D-Cinema 48kHz 5.1 Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first movie in Jussi Adler-Olsen's Q- Series.

---

Goofs

The leader of the sanitarium tells the two main characters that Uffe was 8 years old when he had his brain injury in the car accident. But we are also told that Uffe was born on the 10th of may 1982 and that the accident, that gave Uffe his brain injury, happened on the 23rd of December 1988, making Uffe 6 when he got his brain injury.

---

Quotes

Assad: [sarcastically/defiantly] Sorry... my Danish isn't so good

---

Connections

Referenced in Kvinden i buret: Ulykken (2014)

---

Soundtracks

Summer Dresses
Written by Jay.Soul (as Jeroen van Olffen)
Performed by DJ Come of Age featuring Cecilia Stalin

User Reviews

Gripping n decent Scandinavian noir.

I saw this on a rented DVD in 2014. Felt like writing a review before i watch two of its sequels. The plot - After a raid gone wrong that resulted in the death of one of his team and the paralysis of another, a homicide cop Nikolaj Lie Kaas has been kicked to the basement aka Department Q to tie off five years of unresolved cases along with an inexperienced assistant called Faras Faras. They wind up pursuing the case of a high-ranking female politician, a supposed suicide whose body was never found. In short this is Scandinavian Noir. The acting of the two leading detectives is assured and the cinematography is compelling. It is a perfectly adequate crime thriller that will appeal to fans of this genre. The Keeper of Lost Causes is genuinely gripping, even though the direction is fairly standard and the main plot elements are predictable. Fans of The Treatment, Marshland, Memories of murder, Headhunters, Insomnia, True Detectives - S1 will definitely enjoy this.