Summary
Post Mortem: No One Dies in Skarnes can be applauded for its take on a modern-day vampire story.
This review of Netflix’s Post Mortem: No One Dies in Skarnes season 1 does not contain spoilers.
Read the ending explained for the series.
Post Mortem: No One Dies in Skarnes is certainly a dark horse on the streaming service — it presents a modern-day vampire story. One that is coated in grim reality, with a tinge of goriness, confusion, and comedy. It’s not a story that thrusts the viewer into the world of blood-thirsty monsters, which is surprising because, in 6 episodes, it somehow manages to space out the writing with the plot and character development.
Following a family that runs their own funeral parlor business, the concept is that “No One Dies In Skarnes,” which is the reason they are failing to make ends meet. The story flips on its head when one of the family members, Live (played by Kathrine Thorborg Johansen), is presumed dead. The first shock of the story is how Live suddenly comes to life when forensics checks her body. The investigative community tries to play it off as extreme hypothermia, but viewers will find themselves absorbed from the first chapter. What does Live represent?
Before discussing Live, it’s important to note how this story sets itself up. The Netflix series sets itself in a small Norwegian town. It feels incestuous by nature. Not because the locals all know each other’s business, but by the assumption that “not much happens”. Even the police department looks extremely bored, represented by two buddy cops in Judith (played by Kim Fairchild) and Reinert (played by André Sørum). By environment and this emphasis on space, there’s this eery knowingness that if anything did happen in the town, there would be a sense of denial. It’s the perfect environment for a modern-day vampire to be conflicted by their actions.
