It’s been five long years since the release of one of Netflix’s best crime thrillers, but the 100%-rated series is finally back this week to take viewers into a twisted game of hide and seek. Premiering back in 2021, the series wasn’t renewed for a second season until 2024, but for all intents and purposes, the wait will have been more than worth it.
Based on the novel by Danish author Søren Sveistrup, Season 1 of Netflix’s intense crime thriller follows two Copenhagen detectives who are tasked with solving a series of gruesome murders that all have one thing in common: a small doll made of chestnuts left at each crime scene. When forensic evidence ties the dolls to a young girl previously believed murdered, they must untangle the truth before the killer strikes again.
Titled The Chestnut Man, Season 1 of the Danish crime thriller earned a perfect 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from critics. Called everything from “surprisingly chilling” to “addictive from its very start,” the series was created by Dorte Warnøe Hagh, David Sandreuter, and Mikkel Serup, and stars Danica Curcic and Mikkel Boe Følsgaard as Naia Thulin and Mark Hess; the two detectives working the case.
‘The Chestnut Man’ Returns With an All-New Mystery This Week
Returning to Netflix this Thursday, May 7, The Chestnut Man Season 2 will bring viewers a new mystery to be solved that’s just as complex as the one in the first season. Part of the reason the show took so long to return was that it was based on a stand-alone novel, and the creators had no material to draw from for Season 2. In the interim, Sveistrup managed to write and publish Hide and Seek, which hit bookstores this February.
Featuring the return of Curcic and Følsgaard as Thulin and Hess, The Chestnut Man Season 2 follows the duo as they hunt down a killer who is staging murders as part of a twisted game of… you guessed it, hide-and-seek. Uncovering a web of secrets tied to power, trauma, and long-buried crimes, Thulin and Hess must stay one step ahead if they want to predict the killer’s next move.
Netflix Is Home to a Number of Great Crime Thrillers
If The Chestnut Man doesn’t interest you (but it really should), Netflix is home to a number of other great crime thrillers that might tickle your fancy. Sticking close to home with some other Nordic Noir shows, Deadwind, Entrapped, and the recently released Detective Hole are great options for those looking for dark and gritty atmospheric crime dramas.
On the English side of things, there’s the huge favorite titled Manhunter, which was unfortunately canceled way too soon and never got the proper ending it deserved. Ozark and Narcos are more fantastic options, as are Fool Me Once, The Stranger, and Bodyguard, which are three British thrillers that will scratch the itch of anyone looking for a good mystery.
Be sure to catch The Chestnut Man Season 2 when it premieres on Netflix May 7, and we’ll have more news on the future of the series as it develops.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
