Department Q: A Conspiracy of Faith

The third film in Denmark's Department Q series of films sees cold-case detectives Morck and Assad on the trail of a missing boy, having found a message in a bottle written by the child eight years previously. The traditional detective thriller gets a darker, existential twist in a movie that takes its time unraveling the mystery. Though mostly focused on their task at hand, director Hans Petter Moland (In Order of Disappearance) is just as intrigued by hard-boiled, hard-drinking Morck (Nikolaj Lie Kass), with the new case posing questions about belief and hope that cut to the very core of this lost soul. Indeed, it's the characters populating this world that set it apart from many a TV cop drama, offering something more to chew on than clues and interrogations. His partner Assad (Fares Fares) acts as the counterbalance, a religious man with a suspicion that the boy's message may have come from a higher power. A great addition to a fine series, the most cinematic Department Q case yet strikes the perfect balance between philosophy and excitement. The fourth in the series, The Purity of Vengeance, was released in Denmark in 2018.