Arctic Circle (2018– ) User Reviews

Watch the Subtitled Version

[b_clerkin · 6/10 · 8 November 2023]

The English dubbing in this film is so atrocious that it reduces the appeal of the entire story. The dubbing cast sounds like it's reading from a sixth grade English class script. Not paying any attention to the what the words say or mean because they think that a full stop Is at the end of each line on the paper. A few irritatingly read two words at a time, like the SNL spoof of Captain Kirk. Add some annoying speech impediments plus a lack of expression or emotion in the dubbed lines and you're left with most of the tension and atmosphere reduced. I've heard more animation from people reading a menu than those supposedly going through tense and emotional scenes.

The story is intriguing - sex trafficking, a dangerous pathogen and cross border tensions should provide lots of intrigue and drama. The expressions and body language of the actors (some ofvwhom I've been impressed with from watching other Finnish dramas with subtitles) indicates that they are infinitely better than the talentless dubbing cast- in fact, it sounds like there are about six people in the dubbing cast, with each reading several characters. Badly. Part of the problem could be that the dubbing actors are not native English speakers, which would account for both the wooden delivery and the lack of flow.

The atmosphere, settings and scenery provide an air of menace that emphasizes the isolation of a sparsely populated place and the claustrophobia of a small village, despite showing vast tracts of pristine white landscapes.

Ironically, the main character chastises an older cop for using less than flattering terms for sex workers, but the entire casts uses Lappland, which is viewed as derogatory towards the indigenous Sampi or Sami people who live in the very northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland.

I really want to see what happens so I will endure the increasingly irritating dubbing to find out.

Maybe Plex can do what Netflix does, offer the viewer the option of watching non- English shows dubbed or subtitled. For maximum enjoyment l, go for the subtitles.

Started out strong, but then...

[bohemiantomorrow · 6/10 · 24 April 2020]

This series started out strong, but then it got tangled up in it's own convoluted and unbelievable plotting. The actors and actresses are great, and especially the child actress Venla does a great job. The sense of family really comes across. The filmography is incredible and the beauty of winter in Lapland comes across wonderfully. These are the reasons I'm giving this a 6 instead of a 5/10.

But if you could give an outstanding award for plot holes and ridiculousness, it would go to this series, I'm sad to say. I lost interest after the halfway-point and barely watched the last two episodes.

What is most irksome is how the lead characters are excused all their flaws--the German man cheats on his wife and the whole storyline is about her being a "psycho crazy woman". To give the depiction of her mental breakdown some balance, perhaps his cheating could've been in some way even mentioned, but it's literally never addressed and he's depicted as the victim to her inexcusable mental breakdown while he is heroically trying to save lives. Nina's character has a similar problem, her actions as a police officer in the last episodes are not believable and for her to be barely reprimanded for them is irksome.

Overall, not a very good watch.

[7.2] Snow, snow... More snow.

[cjonesas · 7/10 · 4 December 2020]

Arctic Circle is a very interesting yet somewhat underrated Finnish-German co-production series to watch. I enjoyed it with pleasure, despite its flaws.

• (+) Very good acting by all the cast, with a big V. The beautiful Iina Kuustonen was a joy to follow through. By the way, Venla should have been properly credited as she did an awesome job. Shame on you the Executives.
• (+) Amazing depiction of the harsh climate (~ -40 Celsius), snow-blanketed Lapland and Ivalo with super beautiful vast landscapes, filming, sceneries and shots. One of the high plus of the show.
• (+-) Scientifically Interesting premise and screenplay with touching sub-storylines, unfortunately with big plot-holes, complemented with more than bad editing and super unrealistic happenings, events and results.
• Definitely deserves a final season 2 with new twists and turns and tying loose ends. Hope they are smart enough to realize it.

14 reviews only for a nice and thrilling European series finished one and a half year ago. There is something definitely wrong here!

Hope it is graced with a second season and followed by more dramatic series from thrilling Finland. They are on the right path, though, they still have a lot to learn from deeper Scandinavian marvels like Bron/Broen.

Two good seasons

[laduqesa · 7/10 · 1 February 2022]

I have to say that some of the plot lines are somewhat fantastical but I enjoyed them for all that. The acting was good and once more I am just so impressed at the proficiency of so many European actors in English. And a special mention, as so many others have done, for the young woman who played Venla so incredibly well.

The second season is freshest in my mind as I just saw it last week and I was left with an impression that the series was grappling with ethical and moral dilemmas as well as being a cop drama. The writers took the position that any form of vigilantism is completely wrong even if it were a considered, researched one. And extrapolating from the events in season two, that the death penalty is wrong if only for the fact that the executed person might be innocent.

Tension built as new revelations about the characters grew and explained their motivations. We also saw the very real difference between Finland, the supposedly least corrupt country in the world, and Russia where the authorities collude in lawlessness and corruption.

We also had human interest themes - the aforementioned Venla, infidelity and betrayal, the grisly fate of gays in Russia, relationships with parents.

I hope I'm not making this sound terribly worthy and boring as it isn't. Both seasons were fast paced and gripping. I hope there will be a third.

Nice Little TV Thriller

[mirivedan · 7/10 · 16 May 2020]

The scenario in itself is not extraordinary but you quicly get close to the characters. The actors are quiet good but i want to give a special award to Venla : Amazing Kid !!!

Oh what awesome pleasure this drama is!

[khunkrumark · 9/10 · 18 April 2019]

(How is it that mine is the only review here? That's just mental.)

While the British TV makers are farting about with blurry vision, wobbly cameras, pointless flashbacks, insane diversity quotas, incomprehensible accents and disco-volume 'background' music, the Finnish (and the rest of Europe) are quietly making riveting TV drama the way it should be made.

Nobody is crying or shouting... people are making sensible decisions and every camera has a working tripod that anchors it to the floor. It's truly awesome to see television like this and you really have to wonder why the UK have lost their touch when it comes to quality crime drama.

Anyway... Russian prostitutes are showing up in Lapland dead, or nearly dead. The one thing they have in common is the virus they share... and the infection runs deep into this ice cold rural area.

This has attracted the centers for disease control in Germany and Helsinki and experts are sent to figure out what's going on.

The local police team up with the Russian cops and the bio experts bring in their own teams of investigators. Nobody is sharing information, so of course, the situation deteriorates rapidly.

Watching this drama unfold is simply a joyous way to spend time. The dialog is about half in Finnish and half in English. Top notch TV and a master class in how television drama should be made.

Strong start but loses its way with the lackluster plot

[orgrinrt · 7/10 · 18 January 2021]

I watched the first season, and I think the second one has not released as of yet.

I really wanted to like this more than I did. The start of the show was strong and the scenery is beautiful. Everything about it screams production value as well, there are no complaints in that regard (camera work, directing, props etc.) for me.

Well, there's one thing. The "action" sequences and especially the whole of episode 9 is just brutally hard to watch. I don't know what it is, but everything about episode 9 and action stuff in general just seems... off. Can't really say what ruins the experience as I'm not an expert in that, but something is just off.

The premise is okay-ish. I mean the plot is definitely one of the weakest points of this show, but the character developments are generally good enough to distract you from the lackluster main plot. Sometimes the threads in the plot just make no sense and sometimes they are unintentionally hilarious and awkward (like the whole arc of the one-eyed dude, jesus).

What saves the show and gives me confidence to put a 7/10 on the board is the fact that the camera work, directing, acting, sound design and all that good stuff that immerses you in the experience is really great, honestly. The acting especially really surpassed my expectations, though I have to mention again that the lackluster plot just drags that down with it for some part.

All in all it's not a bad season. Good enough for me to wait for season 2, but not good enough to make me rush to get my hands on it. I'll definitely check the next season out if it happens to be on any platform I subscribe to, but I won't go out of my way to watch it.

A Great & Snowy Nordic Noir!

[Meesh85 · 9/10 · 20 March 2022]

If you like Nordic noirs then you'll love Arctic Circle. The cinematography is beautiful. The acting and plot well done. I love how they use Finnish, German and English throughout. Also I loved the actress, Pihla who plays the sister Marita. She leads another great noir, Deadwind on Netflix. Great show!

Good start, but becomes silly

[JamesR1973 · 6/10 · 14 November 2022]

I enjoyed the first half of this series, and if my review was based on that alone it would be higher (this is based on season 1 - I haven't seen the second one yet).

It starts off with a local Laplander police woman finding a Russian prostitute held in captivity and a body buried in the snow outside. Off the back of this, a virus is discovered and a German virologist is brought in to help identify the source and who has been infected. Ultimately, this leads to a much greater conspiracy involving some military types and shenanigans between Russia and Finland.

On the plus side, the locations are pretty impressive and if you like lots of snow (and people on snow mobiles) then you'll definitely find some enjoyment here. The acting is reasonable and it moves along at a fairly swift pace (although whether it needs 10 episodes for the first season is debatable).

However, my main issue is that the plot starts to become a little ridiculous towards the latter half. There are so many little sub strands and coincidences going on that it starts to lose focus. The whole operation into Russia is just stupid and unrealistic and at the end I was none the wiser about what the people instigating it actually wanted. The stories about the German doctor's nutty wife and the liver transplant for the daughter were fanciful (take note, you can get a liver transplant in a day in Finland - it was like someone swapping a new hard drive in a computer).

This brings me onto the relationship between the policewoman and her daughter. What an absolutely appalling parent she was. She was constantly dumping her child on her mother and then abandoning her for work. One minute she was concerned about her, the next she was off again, spending nights with the German virologist.

The mix of English and Finnish (with a smattering of German) meant some of the delivery of lines came across a little wooden. The caricatures of the military types and baddies in their James Bond-lite villain lair with accompanying rings hanging from the ceiling (just why?) had me chuckling when I probably shouldn't have been.

It probably sounds like I'm being unfair and I don't mean to be - but it was frustrating as I think this started off well. I just think they tried to pack too much stuff in.

The dialogue is the worst

[tiiuzca · 5/10 · 27 January 2021]

The dialogue is heard so many times before. "i give a helicopter. just one condition. I come with you." - and the helicopter comes. This same "just one condition" conversation is used multiple times in the show. Also defiant lines, like "Who are you to decide that?" said by this softy main character who definitely doesn't have balls to say something like that. Perhaps the problem is that non-native speakers have written the lines. They just don't fit, they are predictable and unimaginative. A bad guy who has been tortured walks like a Frankenstein monster and snarls - in a dark hospital. Looked like a bad horror movie.

10 episodes is too much for the story. You could have fit everything in to 6-8 episodes. The plot loses track.

The best thing of the series is the nature. Beautiful snowy nature in northern Finland.

A pleasant locality-based crime series from Finland (with German participation)

[BeneCumb · 8/10 · 23 September 2019]

Well, officially it is Finnish-German production, but most of performers come from Finland and most events take place there as well (more precisely, in Lapland near the Artic Circle), so you get, above all, a picture how life in those harsh conditions go on and what potential dangers and risks can appear.

If/when some virus is included, then it is always "food for thought", but in the modern fast developing technology - you never know; what was unimaginable a decade ago, can be a reality now, etc. All in all, as "pure crime stuff" was included, I had nothing against this inclusion (usually I am not into non-human death inducers).

As for the cast, all main performers were unknown to me, but there was a strong and nice team-work, no character "shining" above or at the expense of others. It is more to my liking than the use of same actors-actresses in similar series, causing confusion or reducing the thrill if they tend to play similar roles as well.

Based on the ending scenes, I am looking forward to the potential Season 2.

On the right track, but falls flat in the end

[jekkukyy · 6/10 · 23 January 2021]

I was positively surprised by Ivalo or "Arctic Circle". The English was not cringe, the actors were decent, and the sceneries work. Nice cinematography.

The pacing and writing is just all over the place sometimes and the plot doesn't move forward at a reasonable pace - unfortunately.

This is a promising example, though, of what could be. Maybe in the future we will see similar shows with better writing.

Starts promisingly, but the plot soon loses coherence

[paul2001sw-1 · 5/10 · 5 December 2022]

Slick Finnish drama 'Arctic Circle' has clearly been conceived with an international audience in mind; most of the dialogue is in English! It starts promisingly enough, with a story of a deadly virus spreading in Lapland from over the Russian border. But it soon descends into a frankly bizarre plot involving Bond-style villains with booby-trapped underground lairs. I didn't find it at all convincing: when the leading male character sleeps with the leading female, his wife not only decides to divorce him (fair enough), but also resolves to prevent him from ever seeing his child ever again, bringing effective legal action to this effect near-instanteously! By the end, I really didn't care what was going on.

An overall good thriller

[helenrobin · 6/10 · 15 January 2023]

The show itself has a brilliant storyline and the location for filming sets the scene nicely. The acting is superb, especially the young girl who plays Venla.

I found parts of it quite annoying, Thomas cheats on his wife with Nina, then his wife suspects he is and goes all psycho about it and lies to the lawyer about her reasons, what I cant understand is how Nina still goes to him knowing he is married, and although she comes across as very loving and caring mothee to Venla she does not hesitate to run off after Thomas leaving Venla behind. The fact he cheats never seems to be addressed, that's wrong. I thought Thomas was a very wooden character too, just untouchable and yet he was far from innocent. Nina I thought considering she came across as an independent and strong woman at the start, became very needy of him and I felt that let down the show a bit, she hardly knew him yet was there at his demand.

Second season is better than the first

[loiskprice · 7/10 · 29 May 2023]

This is one of those rare occasions when the second season of the show is better than the first season. I am hooked on Nordic Noir and have enjoyed watching Scandinavian series that I've never seen or heard of before. So I am glad that they are now available on so many platforms. I'm becoming familiar with Finnish actors so I was excited to see such an all-star cast in Arctic Circle. Unfortunately, the writing didn't rise to the level of the sublime Finnish cast. The 1st season was all over the place & trying too hard. It simply lost focus. The 2nd season is much better. Still worth a watch, but not as great as other Nordic Noir series out there.

Excellent snowy drama/thriller

[TommyDD · 8/10 · 23 April 2019]

This series has it all: interesting story with multiple plot lines, nice balance between drama and thriller, good acting by everyone involved (Finnish actress Iina Kuustonen is a marvel to watch), and beautiful shots of vast snowy landscapes in Lapland. 8/10.

Overall a great series let down by rubbish stunts

[rob-lister-878-590847 · 6/10 · 2 February 2024]

I have to say I really enjoyed the first series and 5/6ths of the second series. I liked the characters, the storyline and especially the stunningly bare location.

Unfortunately, after watching all 10 of series 1 and 5 episodes of series 2, we get to the pivotal final episode (I haven't watched Series 3 yet) and it was if they'd run out of money?

The stunts (fights/shootings/etc.) Were like watching a car crash in Corronation Street or Eastenders (UK TV Soap operas (with laughable stunts/action sequences)). Just so unbelievable that for me, it sort of ruined what had been a really enjoyable season.

Nice Scandi-noir drama

[jeffpsy · 8/10 · 19 February 2023]

I just finished both seasons of Arctic Circle ("Ivalo"). I liked it. Yes, there were some strange twists of plot that strained credulity and were quite farfetched. That said, the drama was marked by good acting, sympathetic characters, an engaging storyline, and gorgeous Nordic vistas. I was going to give it a seven, but the surprises that unfolded late in the second season caused me to add a point and bump it up to eight.

Arctic Circle met my criterion for a good drama: I cared about all the major characters. Lina Kuustonen was a strong lead as policewoman Nina; both her sister Marita and her ex (and baby daddy) Esko became sympathetic characters as the story unfolded. And I can't say enough about actress Venla Ronkainen, an actress with Down Syndrome, who played Nina's special needs daughter, also named Venla. Often I find that kids in dramas don't add much to the storyline. But Arctic Circle was the exception. Venla was possibly the most endearing character I've ever seen in a drama. She played an important role in the flow of the action, and lit up every scene she was in. The actress was great. I don't know if she'll ever act in another production, but she did herself proud with her performance in 16 episodes of Arctic Circle.

As I write this, I have no idea whether there will be a third season, but I would watch it.

... multi-million-dollar-production.. all's-pretty to-look-at

[bjarias · 7/10 · 12 February 2024]

... another Scandinavian-crime-drama.. almost through first season's episodes, the women making the story-itself worthwhile staying-watching

... brought to AC by Inka Kallén after watching her film Odotus (The Wait) filmed around exact same time as this work, here in which her role is fairly-perfunctory, appearing-off-on, in just half-the-episodes so-far... would much rather seen her cast in the lead.. not that Iina Kuustonen performs poorly, just feel Kallén would have brought much deeper-interesting-perspective to the character

... still an active 'returning-series'.. so we'll just have to see where it goes after these next couple seasons are watched, and if more get approved-produced... and check-out some of Maria Ylipää's youtube-videos, she's got a marvelous-singing-voice

... 02.13.24 - plot of season two just-dumb-absurd.. watching it through just to get to series three, which with only couple episodes remaining has improved-substantially... S1 & S3 are series to watch.. fast-forward through S2 fast as possible... now is there to be S4, that's the question... and there are just three actors appearing in all twenty-two-episodes, why do only two of them show in the film credits.

Unbelievable and Deeply Flawed

[raebrian · 2/10 · 21 February 2022]

Just as a disclaimer I'm a big fan of the Scandi/Nordic Noir genre so I'm coming at this review with an admiration for television from this region but this one just doesn't do it for me at all.

The premise of a sexually transmitted outbreak that requires preexisting herpes infection is just silly but the story doesn't stop being ridiculous from there. Take the lead scientist who studies sexually transmitted diseases as an example. We are led to believe that we are in the midst of an outbreak of an extremely dangerous sexually transmitted disease so he goes and strikes up an affair with the first women he meets LOL. If I were someone educated in virology and in the middle of trying to control an outbreak that is spread through sexual contact I think sex with strangers would be the last thing on my mind but maybe that's just me?

I feel like this show had too many cooks in the kitchen in the writers room because it's basically like two or three scripts wrapped into one but not in a good way. This could have stood alone as a nordic noir crime series investigating the abduction and murder of Russian prostitutes or it could have been a science fiction series about a mutating viral outbreak but both of them together makes this feel more like a comedy than anything serious. I honestly found myself laughing out loud at parts that I know weren't intended to be funny.

Overall I feel like I wasted time watching this. It's a shame that the script wasn't better because there are some good finish actors in this show that have given excellent performances in other series. It just goes to show you how important good writing is.

Finnish Noir

[Pairic · 8/10 · 3 November 2022]

Arctic Circle: Nordic Noir set in Finnish Lapland where it borders on Russia. At first this seems to be a Serial Killer drama but it swiftly moves into conspiracies. An STI virus is found in the bodies of the slain women, no ordinary one, this one has pandemic potential. A local police investigator Nina Kautsalo (Iina Kuustonen) has a personal interest, her sister is also infected. The interference of Intelligence operatives make her job harder. A German virologist Thomas Lorenz (Maximilian Brückner) has similar problems with his bosses so they team up to solve the mystery. The unforgiving tundra has to be carefully negotiated as human trafficking, the Russian Mob and rival scientists are uncovered. The body count mounts as the narrative unfolds with quite a few disturbing scenes. Nina and Thomas's family dramas don't quite descend into soap, rather they give the characters added background. Created by Olli Haikka and Petja Peltomaa, Directed by Hannu Salonen. Ten episodes on All4. 8/10.

Very weak plot in beautiful arctic scenery

[adrive-1 · 5/10 · 16 March 2020]

Don't know why i watched it till the end, probably hoped it would get better but it did not. The production certainly had enough money to spend, it just goes on and on without any suspense or surprises

Glimpse of Finland

[Bunnymama5 · 8/10 · 11 August 2023]

Found series fascinating. Binged watched, couldn't help myself. A short glimpse into, to me, a little known country. Had a student with Finnish roots, very bright, inquisitive child. Characters interesting, plot engaging....hard to second guess. Amazed at physical beauty of the northern country...gives new insight to the people who live, work, bring up families in arctic conditions. Also shows our human biases to unknown diseases. Quite a lot packed into one movie series. I am glad to have had the opportunity to view, through the sets, characterizations, a people and country I knew so little about. Thank you.

Very creative!!!

[jasonalaporta · 10/10 · 30 June 2019]

This show is very creative and well thought out. Beautiful scenery keeps you interested the entire time. I really suggest to anyone that passes up shows bc of subtitles to stray away from that thinking alot of this show is in English. Great story. Well executed Netflix if your paying attention keep these shows coming you missed this one..I agree with the user a above while other parts of the world are releasing garbage Scandinavia and small European towns are coming out with material that makes you excited about watching season 2 !! Keep it up !!

I stopped watching

[folker-michaelsen · 4/10 · 6 April 2020]

Landscape? Fantastic. Leading actress? Great, adorable. But logic gaps and stereotypes? Unbearable. I stopped after 2,5 sequences.