Movie Review: ‘Intrigo: Death Of An Author’ And Interviews With Director David Alfredson And Producer Rick Dugdale

by | Jan 18, 2020 | Featured, Interviews, Movie Reviews, Movies | 0 comments

By James Lindorf

Several years ago, Writer and Director Daniel Alfredson (The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest), along with his co-writer Birgitta Bongenhielm brought the idea of adapting Swedish writer Hakan Nesser’s thriller novels to producer Rick Dugdale. The pair wanted to create the three-part anthology series Intrigo, which follows different characters going about their lives in the town of Maardam. The first entry in the series is Intrigo: Death of an Author stars Benno Fürmann (Speed Racer) and Academy Award® winner Ben Kingsley (Gandhi). The mystery is solved January 17th when Intrigo: Death of an Author is released in select theaters and On Demand.

David (Fürmann) is a budding author and meets with world-famous Alex Henderson (Kingsley) to get advice on his newest story. Things begin to spiral as it becomes clear that David’s story is not merely a work of fiction but an autobiographical tale. Three years ago, David plotted the seemingly accidental death of his wife, when her body was never recovered, he began a spiral of fear, guilt, and obsession that she may still be alive. When asked to translate a book by a writer who also died mysteriously, he finds himself attracted to the man’s sultry widow and convinced the novel contains a hidden message.

Death of an Author is well-acted and beautifully filmed; unfortunately, they are camouflaged by dense narration and some uneven pacing. The opening narration makes sense when David is pretending to read from his book, but even after that pretense was abandoned, the voice-over continues. Fürmann is a talented and charismatic actor that is capable of carrying the film with his performance, but Alfredson and Bongenhielm’s script didn’t give him the chance. The interludes with David and Alex are among the best moments of the film, but they far to brief and rarely move the story forward, but the two actors make them enjoyable.

One of the best things about that film is that it doesn’t feel the need to tie up every loose end like so many thrillers. There is a bevy of possible answers, and discussing them with friends/family/random internet people will be the highlight of the film. Intrigo: Death of an Author is n enjoyable film with a mystery that doesn’t let you down. At the same time, it may not be intriguing enough to warrant repeat viewings, but it does build interest in the remaining Intrigo chapters that will also be released this year.

David:

Rick: