Echoes from the Dead (2013) User Reviews

Better than its title

[paul2001sw-1 · 7/10 · 19 June 2015]

Daniel Alfredson's 'Echoes from the Dead' may have a boringly generic name, but it's actually quite good, a slow-burning thoughtful story of the attempt of an old man and his daughter to finally lay to rest a tragedy from their past. It's unusual to watch a film where the youngest of the main cast are middle-aged but the actors have no problems in carrying off the story. There's something of the flavour that you can get when watching 'Wallander', of a modern Sweden where the trappings of the consumerist society are layered quite thinly on a harsher, more primitive, style of life. The only thing that doesn't quite work is the tale's conclusion, which requires some oddly out-of-character behaviour by one of the participants.

Echoes from the Dead

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 14 June 2015]

This film, set on the Swedish island of Öland, opens shortly after the Second World War when we see a young man, Nils Kant, shoot two German soldiers. Then as he escapes on a train he guns down the policeman who was about to arrest him. The action then moves forward to 1993 when protagonist Julia Davidsson visits the island to see her father. She left after her young son disappeared twenty years previously; it was assumed that he had drowned but her father and one of his friends are convinced that he died in the nearby grassland and that somehow the killing is connected to Nils Kant. When Julia finds her father's friend dead, after an apparent accident, she decides to stay a few more days on the island. While there she befriends the local policeman who assures her that it was impossible that Kant was involved as he'd seen the body of Kant before he was buried in 1968 after years on the run in Cuba. When a child's sandal is sent to Julia's father it becomes apparent that somebody else wants the case reopened. As the story progresses we learn more about what happened to Nils Kant after he left the island and ultimately discover what happened to Julia's son all those years ago.

This Swedish film is a fairly routine offering; an enjoyable mystery in an interesting setting but feels more like a one-off TV drama than a film. There are some tense moments and a bit of a twist at the end… although I'm sure most viewers will suspect the culprit even if they don't work out the details. Lena Endre does a solid job as Julia and is ably supported by Tord Peterson and Thomas W. Gabrielsson as her father and policeman Lennart Henriksson respectively… although not speaking Swedish I can't comment on whether the actors playing islanders have the correct accents! The Öland setting, with its windswept scenery, adds to the haunting feel of mystery. Overall this may not be as dark as many mysteries coming out of the Nordic countries at the moment it is a decent enough mystery.

These comments are based on watching the film in Swedish with English subtitles.

"I am just an echo of an echo of an echo,Listening to someone's cry for help."

[morrison-dylan-fan · 7/10 · 26 September 2017]

With the adaptation coming out next month,I decided to start reading Jo Nesbo's Nordic Noir The Snowman. Whilst looking for info on the upcoming movie,I stumbled on title I've never heard of before,which led to me listening to the echoes.

The plot:

Returning to the island of Öland 24 years after her 5 year old son Jens disappeared, (with the now-dead local weirdo Nils Kant being the former main suspect) Julia Davidsson finds her dad Gerlof and his best friend continuing to investigate for links Kant had to Jens disappearance. Planning to stay just a few days,Julia extends her visit when Gerlof's friend dies in a sudden accident. Whilst she comforts her dad, Gerlof and Julia receive a envelope,containing one of Jens shoes.

View on the film:

Returning to the mystery on a small island, co-writer/(with Birgitta Bongenhielm) director Daniel Alfredson & Fredrik Bäckar go for an oddly cosy atmosphere, via the rugged,isolating terrain being covered in misty clouds and wide crane shots above the beautiful countryside. Putting together fragments of the past,Alfredson lands on a dour Nordic Noir atmosphere in extended flashbacks glazed with a stylish decaying gold and late 60's long hair and blood-stained cars.

Adapted from the echoes of Johan Theorin's novel, the screenplay by Alfredson and Bongenhielm give the Nordic Noir themes of corrupt major businesses and unsolved mystery an excellent mature twist,as the decades the Davidson's (played by a great Lena Endre and Tord Peterson) have spent grieving over the death of Julia's son Jens are cut open with new doubt on the identity of the killer. Re-tracing Nils Kant's (played by an unsettling Felix Engström) footsteps, the writers give the mystery a visceral burn with the extended flashbacks unveiling the psychopathic horrors lurking behind the islands peaceful image,as the echoes of the dead grow louder.

A bit slow but okay.

[deloudelouvain · 6/10 · 16 March 2023]

Skumtimmen (or Echoes from the Dead for the English title) is a Swedish slow burning mystery/drama. A bit too slow in my opinion. A faster pace and a bit more light action scenes could have benefit this movie. Now it was a lot of talking, maybe just a bit too much. There aren't that much characters so the story was slightly predictable, or at least in my experience. Overall the acting was good, except for Tord Peterson that I found lesser convincing. Maybe it's his more advanced age. But the movie is certainly worth a watch, only there are much better Swedish movies so don't expect a masterpiece.

Ordinary Swedish noir

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 2 September 2017]

ECHOES FROM THE DEAD is a very ordinary Swedish crime noir, heavily influenced by the likes of WALLANDER. It's nowhere near the level of quality of the outstanding MILLENNIUM series, which will always be the benchmark for this kind of film-making. ECHOES boasts an arresting opening sequence, but follows this up with a slow-moving tale in which the past inevitably impinges on the present. Murder and disappearances are involved here, and there's a strong female lead, but there's a little too much atmosphere building and not quite enough intricate storytelling. I found that the whole thing left me quite cold.

Much better than expected - strong Swedish crime-tale

[dakjets · 8/10 · 22 May 2017]

Why the low rating? Very unfair. This movie is much better than expected. The act takes place in a small community in Sweden. Here old conflicts come to the surface when the adult daughter returns to her hometown to help her old father. The film is both a drama and an exciting crime drama. Weird events come back and we are wrapped up in an exciting story that really makes you hooked. The film has some of the most famous Swedish actors in the lead, including Lena Endre, which in my opinion makes one of her better performances in this movie, as the daughter who struggles with the past, and who fight to find the truth at last. Often it's unfortunate to mix different genres into one and the same movie, but here it works great. Now you know: When this shows up on a TV channel late night, then it's time to see it.