Mammon DVD coverDirector: Cecilie A. Mosli
Starring: Jon Øigarden, Lena Kristin Ellingsen, Anders T. Andersen
Country: Norway
Year: 2014

Mammon follows investigative journalist Peter Veras (Jon Øigarden) as he uncovers a series of financial frauds that not only involve his immediate family but that put himself and everyone around him at risk. Following in the well-respected paths trod by The Bridge and Borgen this “Nordic Noir” sets out to no doubt gain as much of a cult following.

The main issue I have with this series is it should have been at least 10 episodes; trying to pack so many twisty turny plot devices into just 6 hour long episodes meant that I often had no idea what was going on. The first episode left me feeling a little bored until the last 5 minutes when it punched me in the face and got me all excited about what might happen next. Unfortunately episode 2 did similar, leaving me feeling a bit let down. It really doesn’t get going until episode 3. I personally felt it hard to care about the main characters; this is a real problem, with more exposition perhaps we could feel more for them and the perilous and often fanciful situations they find themselves in.

Mammon

Saying that it does have its charms, it had moments of high drama and could be truly gripping in places. My favourite characters were an unexpected British “baddie” played by Tim Treloar and a sadly underused gruff newspaper editor played by Nils Ole Oftebro; the other main players varied in charisma and there was token “weird” geek chick (Vibeke Haglund played by Lena Kristin Ellingsen) which appears to be de rigeur in these Scandinavian series.

As someone who loved The Bridge I really wanted to like this more, and if baffling thrillers are your thing then please take a punt. Next time Mammon makers can we have more episodes? This needs a second series just to see if they can improve upon what is at its heart a good premise.

Mammon: Series One is released on DVD on 5th May in the UK, released by Arrow.

Review by Katy Vans

About The Author

Katy Vans grew up watching a lot of late night films at a very young age; along with giving her nightmares she also developed a love of Spaghetti Westerns and Stanley Kubrick. With a background in acting, writing, film making and journalism she describes herself as an undisciplinary artist/word thief.

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