The desolate snowscapes and off-kilter comedy may invite comparisons with Fargo. But don't be fooled, as there are serious points lurking beneath the ice trodden by Oslo cop Reidar Sørensen, as he investigates the murder of a Down's Syndrome girl and one of her suspected assailants.
Sørensen manages to be both perplexed and imperious in his dealings with the tight-lipped locals. But most credit goes to the debuting Karin Julsrud, who takes the redneck backwater scenario and turns it into an examination of the difference between justice and law. Moreover, she also exposes the double-edged nature of prejudice, as neither the city outsider nor the enclosed community has much respect for each other's brand of retribution.