The Keeper of Lost Causes

The Keeper of Lost Causes
Theatrical release poster
DanishKvinden i buret
Directed byMikkel Nørgaard
Screenplay byNikolaj Arcel
Based onKvinden i buret
by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyEric Kress
Edited by
  • Morten Egholm
  • Martin Schade
Music by
Distributed byNordisk Film
Release dates
  • 31 January 2013 (2013-01-31) (GIFF)
  • 3 October 2013 (2013-10-03) (Denmark)
CountryDenmark
LanguageDanish

The Keeper of Lost Causes (Danish: Kvinden i buret), also known as Department Q: The Keeper of Lost Causes, is a 2013 Danish film directed by Mikkel Nørgaard. The movie is based on the novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen. It is the first film in the Department Q film series, followed by The Absent One (2014) and A Conspiracy of Faith (2016).

Synopsis

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Carl Mørck is demoted to Department Q, the cold case unit, after a raid he instigated goes wrong. One case, a suspected suicide, piques his interest. His investigations suggest that the victim, a rising politician named Merete Lynnggard, was actually kidnapped. Mørck ruffles feathers and is told to halt the investigation, but he and his assistant Assad persist.

As the duo investigate the case further, they get into trouble with Swedish police and are suspended, but they continue their investigation. Lynnggard is revealed to be imprisoned in a pressure chamber by a vengeful chef named Lasse. When Lynnggard and Lasse were children, Lynnggard playfully blindfolded her father as he was driving, causing a deadly car crash that killed both of her parents as well as Lasse's father and younger sister. The confinement and torture of Lynnggard is Lasse's revenge.

Carl and Assad locate the pressure chamber and rescue Lynnggard as she is about to die, and they arrest Lasse. Because of their action and the prominence of the case, the police chief reinstates the duo as detectives.

Cast and characters

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Release

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The film was first shown at the Gothenburg Film Festival in January 2013, followed by several more film festivals before its cinema release in Denmark on 3 October 2013.[1] The film topped the local box office in 2013 with 725,000 Danish moviegoers buying tickets.[2]

Reception

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Critical response

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 71% of 28 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Danish Film Institute: Kvinden i buret Linked 2 April 2017
  2. ^ Variety, October 6, 2013: ‘The Absent One’ Breaks Danish B.O. Records Relinked 2 April 2017
  3. ^ "The Keeper of Lost Causes". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 9 October 2021. Edit this at Wikidata
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