What Remains is a crime drama film that had potential with its thrilling and true story about a Scandinavian serial killer. True crime can be exciting, but what exactly went wrong? Well, it’s the presentation. The film is directed by Ran Huang who makes his feature film directorial debut as the film has a strong leading cast, but was a challenge together given how sluggish it is.
It’s a father and son moment as the film stars Stellan Skarsgård and his son Gustaf Skarsgård. The script is co-written by Huang and S. Skarsgård’s wife Megan Everett-Skarsgård. The film is based on a true story of Sture Bergwell, a psychiatric patient who went by the name of Thomas Quick. He was known as one of Sweden’s infamous serial killers. Set in Sweden in the 1990s the film follows Mads Lake (G. Skarsgård) who experienced abuse as a child, is set to leave a mental institution, and confesses he molested and killed young boys decades ago and he does not remember committing the murders. This leads his therapist Anna Rudebeck (Andrea Riseborough) to cancel his release and alerts the authorities. Police detective Soren Rank (Stellan Skarsgård) and Anna look into the investigation collaborating to solve a case of unsolved murders.
S. Skarsgård and Riseborough are always great talents to watch, but nothing is interesting about their characters in this film. Each other’s characters are going through personal struggles while also trying to do their job. Huang’s film is looking at redemption and finding human connection which can be seen in Risenborough’s character who portrays a therapist who is gentle and respects Mads. Their characters have the strongest relationship in the film. The film’s heavy focus is on Mads’ relationship with Anna and Soren. However, Huang targets to make G. Skarsgård shine. It is easily the best part of the film transforming into a character unlike anything he has previously done before. He was fantastic and may have gave his career-best performance as a character filled with complex emotion.
Huang’s direction isn’t quite as impressive as he has the audience also become the detectives to figure out why Mads committed the crimes and where are the missing bodies. The presentation is underwhelming as the cinematography is bleak which was the film’s intention, but other true crime thrillers have done it better. The film’s atmosphere is very eerie and muted as the film is set in the cold dead of winter which helps add an emotion of dread. The film does have an intriguing concept, however now that the film is complete it was all a bore. The film runs over 2 hours and it’s all slow-moving where the story never progresses. Its execution isn’t impactful as the film explores trauma and how it can affect someone for their lifetime. It leads to an uneventful and rushed ending and a lot of unanswered questions that never get solved. It’s certainly going to leave fans of true crime frustrated and it’s all a lackluster.
I give this a 4 out of 10.
