The true crime genre is incredibly popular, with the thrill to explore real-life events, keeping audiences hooked. Crime series captivate audience with their intense storytelling, chilling real-life mysteries, and in-depth investigations. A new such Netflix series has hooked users and is being branded as the ‘best true crime series ever’, so much so fans are binge-watching it in just one night.
The streaming platform has continually focused on true crime and its latest original series has earned widespread acclaim from viewers. Having a staggering rating of 7.2 on IMDB and 77% on rotten tomatoes, the series has secured a spot in Netflix’s Top 10 Chart.
Social media is flooded with the hype of this new crime series, for all the right reasons, with one fan commenting:
“This show proves that you don’t need unbelievable twists or larger-than-life characters. You just need to tell the story smartly, slowly, and let the plot develop itself.”
Another added,
“This is one of the best true crime things I have seen in years. No crazy plotting. Just real people.”
Agreeing with the acclaim, a third one added,
“Excellent, fast-moving, and well-produced show based on a true story. Top-notch acting. Binge-watched the four episodes,”
Inspired by the book by journalist Anna Bodin and genealogist Peter Sjölund, the Swedish drama “Breakthrough” offers a fictionalized recounting of Sweden’s second-largest criminal investigation in history. The much hyped criminal series is directed by Lisa Siwe and written by Oskar Söderlund. The series features notable performances by incredible actors like Peter Eggers and Mattias Nordkvist.
While telling about the new crime thriller, the director Siwe disclosed,
“Though this is a fictional drama series about a crime, it is, above all, a depiction of a human tragedy – where we place our focus on the victims and the investigation rather than the perpetrator. It’s a story about the compassion and care for one another that is needed to move on when terrible things happen.”
The plot of this mind boggling crime series is based on the true story of the 2004 double murder in Linköping, Sweden, and the subsequent 16-year-long investigation that remained unsolved until forensic genealogy played a crucial role in solving the case in 2020.
On October 19, 2004, eight-year-old Mohammed Ammour and 56-year-old Anna-Lena Svensson were murdered in broad daylight in Linköping, Sweden. The case remained unsolved for 16 years, with no connections between the victims and investigators initially believing it to be a random attack. Although police found a discarded hat at the crime scene, advances in technology at the time were not sufficient to use the DNA to identify the killer. Despite the victims’ families fearing they might never find answers, the breakthrough came in 2020 when forensic genealogy was used to crack the case wide open. This technological advancement enabled Swedish authorities to trace the Linköping killer’s family tree, using DNA found on the hat left at the crime scene.
Screenplay writer Söderlund told Netflix about the crime series “Breakthrough”: “When I read the book ‘The Breakthrough,’ I was struck by the fact that there was such strong human destinies behind this massive m**der investigation.
“Police officers who refuse to give up, relatives who wanted answers, and last but not least the genealogist who finally came up with the solution.”