Picture Credit: Netflix
This late-summer entry in the Scandinavian line-up comes from the co-creator and former head writer of Lupin, one of the biggest global hits on the platform. Mastermind George Kay plunges the Stockholm police force into chaos once grisly murders are committed on patrols responding to emergency calls. As a father-son team are investigating the killing spree, does this new crime show prove worthy of the hits in Scandi drama?
Eagle-eyed subscribers may notice that a select number of Netflix shows are not created by citizens of the countries they come from; the global reach and collaborative spirit sometimes encouraged in production hubs means that some writers may have a shot at getting a Netflix show abroad, produced with local crews. Such was the case with last spring’s That Night, a Spanish show cowritten by local screenwriter Lara Sendim and Jason George. And Lupin has been birthed out of the collaboration between French writer-director François Uzan and British writer George Kay.
Kay has left writing duties on Lupin, whose forthcoming season will be handled by a French writers’ room, with Louis Leterrier and Omar Sy as showrunners. Nevertheless, he has been busier than ever, with three projects of his premiering this year: miniseries Gone on ITV, an HBO/BBC coproduction entitled War… and a project that plays in the crowded “Nordic Noir” field, shot quietly over the summer of 2025 in Sweden with a local cast and crew.
Blood Sacrifice (or Blodsoffer) very much plays into the strengths of the genre: a series of grisly murders, bright but overworked detectives and policemen, and a good dose of bitter family relationships. In that case, the graphic scenes are more toned down than, say, Harry Hole, and Kay wastes no time getting to the heart of the show. When police officers respond to a 1.15am emergency call on a Friday, they are mercilessly killed and beheaded. The killer manages to leave no real clues, and top investigator Thomas Berg (Jakob Oftebro) is stumped. He chooses to enlist his father Alfred (Peter Andersson), a policeman whose career came to an end in dismay — he says it was for inappropriate comments, but the truth was a bit more damning — to help as a consultant for the investigation.
Soon, as it emerges that more policemen are trapped and killed in the same manner, the case gets national media scrutiny, and Thomas has to feel the pressure of police unions demanding real progress, alongside hierarchy skepticism and the cutting mockery of a father who has despised his clean-cut ways. Alfred, as played by Peter Andersson, revels in the trope of the loudmouth alcoholic father whose old-school ways may be a benefit to the case, but are also really erratic. This description might make it seem like lighter moments may carry the dynamic of the main characters; alas, barely any humour is to be found in the show.
Blood Sacrifice is built over the hunt for a resourceful killer who apparently enjoys knowing the police forces are helpless to stop him; and it does not disappoint, with well-placed discoveries and twists, and a tidy resolution. Kay knows his way around a crowd-pleasing mystery, and that is exactly what this delivers over five episodes. However, Jakob Oftebro fails to build some character momentum as his character Thomas is not very adept at having defining moments as an investigator (the breakthrough is not necessarily coming from him over the course of the series, which delights his father), and his crumbling family life — he is married to a psychologist and is consumed by work — does not make for compelling drama. On one hand, nothing detracts from the investigation, which maintains a steady pace; on the other, the rift between father and son and the inevitable understanding as danger comes very close to them are all very expected.
One theme which fails to be thoroughly addressed is the unease of the police forces, namely the patrols who are responding to daily emergency calls: as the investigation unearths failures and faults in the protocol of the policemen, a handful of scenes point at overworked policemen who feel left behind, with inadequate means to properly respond to distress calls. It would have been an interesting heart to the show, but all of the colleagues of Thomas fail to register properly as characters. The supporting characters do not oppose a lot of conflict to the investigators, which sometimes makes for a dull procedural; even as Thomas crosses the line of legality in his methods, the show only seems bent on getting the audience closer to the killer and nothing else.
If you like Blood Sacrifice, watch
The Chestnut Man
Deadwind
Harry Hole
Verdict
Even if George Kay successfully stretches his talents to build a well-paced mystery, most of the performances and the supporting cast of the show feel undercooked and anonymous. Even with the ever-delicate theme of the psychological disarray of the police forces rearing its head, Blood Sacrifice seems content to only play as a procedural Nordic noir drama.
