Summary
The Unlikely Murderer is undoubtedly a must-see. It stands on its own feet as an individual one-off series and one that true crime fans can enjoy and endure.
This review of the Netflix limited series The Unlikely Murderer Season 1 does not contain spoilers.
All challenging murder mysteries are fascinating, but the true story that has been dramatized in The Unlikely Murderer is something. In Sweden, in 1986, Prime Minister Palme was shot dead in the streets with his wife beside him. The murder was unsolved. Amongst the madness a high-profile case brings, there was a confusing suspect — Stig Engström.
The story is perplexing due to its simplicity. It was a murder that was carried out publically. Stig barely showed himself as a strategic murderer. That’s what makes this series baffling. It details how the police were so strung on the simple facts that they could not see what was in front of them. Netflix’s The Unlikely Murderer shows a true crime story at a time when technology was against them, and hearsay and stated accounts were important but often troublesome.
The Swedish drama is acted to a tee. The actor who plays Stig (Robert Gustafsson) deliberately plays a failed man with weak behavior. The kind of man that is easily swayed by political influence and acts impulsively. The type of man that is unlikely to murder. But as the theory goes, it’s always the ones we least expect.
The Netflix series does well to capture the optics of the time. The assassination of a Prime Minister is time-sensitive but imperative for the investigation team to get the conclusion right. It’s just so damn confusing to witness fictionalized events of intelligent people being winded by a man that can barely plan his day. And I guess that’s why The Unlikely Murderer is appealing. If the murderer obviously did it and were presented as an expected killer, the story would have a less dramatic effect. The series performs to the scope, leaving the audience dumbfounded.
As part of the series, The Unlikely Murderer flits to 2015, where an investigator looked into the murder of Palme and delves deeply into Stig Engström’s life. The story highlights how hindsight is a wonderful thing, and the judicial system can only evolve and better itself.
The Unlikely Murderer is undoubtedly a must-see. It stands on its own feet as an individual one-off series and one that true crime fans can enjoy and endure.
