---
title: "The Killing"
year: 2011
kind: "series"
canonical: "https://film.one/tv/the-killing-2011"
fi1m_id: "the-killing-2011"
imdb_id: "tt1637727"
tmdb_id: 34415
wikidata_id: "Q28214"
fi1m_score: 62
critics_score: 54
critics_reviews: 7
published: "2026-10-07T15:28:01.205757+00:00"
updated: "2026-10-07T15:28:01.838389+00:00"
region: "ZA"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# The Killing (2011)

Created by Veena Sud · Drama, Crime, Mystery

## Identity

The Killing

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/tv/the-killing-2011
- **Type:** Series
- **Fi1m ID:** the-killing-2011
- **IMDb ID:** tt1637727
- **TMDB ID:** 34415
- **Wikidata ID:** Q28214
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1637727/, https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/34415, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q28214

**Fi1m score: 62** · Critics 54 from 7 reviews

*In a sentence:* Forty-four hours of rain, two detectives who never sleep and one question the series is in no hurry to answer

> Veena Sud’s American remake of a Danish hit has two detectives worth following and a grief worth watching, and it rations both across far too many wet episodes. Worth starting for Enos, Kinnaman and Michelle Forbes; be ready to wait.

## Synopsis

Seattle, under rain. Homicide detective Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos) is on her last day before leaving the city, handing over to Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnaman), who has transferred in from narcotics and talks like nobody else in the building. A teenage girl, Rosie Larsen, has not come home, and her parents Mitch (Michelle Forbes) and Stanley (Brent Sexton) move from irritation to fear over a single weekend. A girl’s jumper is found in a field. A car registered to a mayoral campaign is pulled from a lake, and campaign staff Jamie Wright (Eric Ladin) and Gwen Eaton (Kristin Lehman) watch their candidate’s name get dragged towards a murder. Linden wants to get on the plane. The case will not let her, and each episode covers one day of it.

## Review

Veena Sud’s [*The Killing*](https://film.one/tv/the-killing-2007) is a remake of the Danish series *Forbrydelsen*, from 2007, and it borrows the shape that made the original famous: one murder, one season, each episode covering roughly a day of the investigation. The city is Seattle, the weather is permanent rain, and the dead girl is a teenager called Rosie Larsen. Across four seasons and 44 episodes, from 2011 to 2014, the series tries to build a police procedural around grief instead of plot. When it manages that, it is good. It does not manage it often enough.

The Larsens are the reason to start. Michelle Forbes plays Mitch, the mother, and Brent Sexton plays Stanley, the father, and the opening episodes give them the kind of time American television almost never gives the family of a victim. We were not prepared for Forbes. There is a moment early on when the news reaches the Larsen kitchen and she does not scream or collapse; she simply stops being able to hear anyone, and the camera holds on her while the household carries on around her. It hollowed us out, and we had switched on expecting a whodunit. Sexton matches her in a quieter key, a large man trying to stay useful because the alternative is unthinkable.

The detectives are the reason to keep going. Mireille Enos plays Sarah Linden as a woman with one jumper, a packet of nicotine gum and no small talk, a detective who is supposed to be leaving the city and keeps finding a reason to stay another day. Joel Kinnaman’s Stephen Holder arrives from narcotics in a hooded top, talking like a teenager and eating like one, and for the first few episodes we took him for a mistake. He is not. Kinnaman plays the slang as a costume Holder is hiding inside, and the slow business of Linden working that out, mostly in a parked car with the wipers going, is the best-written strand the series has. Nobody on screen is ever allowed to be charming, and over 44 hours that gets tiring.

It looks like what it is about. The nineteen credited directors, who include Patty Jenkins on the opening episode and, further on, Jonathan Demme and Agnieszka Holland, keep the camera low and the colour drained to green and grey, so that a lit window at dusk reads as the warmest thing in the frame. Interiors are underlit even by the standards of the genre. The sound mix does a good deal of the work: rain on car roofs, a kettle, a phone nobody wants to answer. It is a consistent look across a great many hands, which tells you how firmly Sud ran the programme.

The problem is time. The Larsen case runs across the first two seasons, 26 episodes, and a mystery that long has to be fed, so the writers feed it suspects. Each gets a few episodes of suspicion, a scene in which Linden stares at him, and a quiet exit. The strand set inside the mayoral campaign, with Eric Ladin as Jamie Wright and Kristin Lehman as Gwen Eaton working the phones, is where this shows most; it is competently acted and we could never make ourselves care which way the vote went. By the middle of the second season we were counting episodes, which we had not done once in the first. A series this slow cannot afford a viewer who is counting.

The third season starts a new case over 12 episodes and moves faster, and the fourth, six episodes with Joan Allen arriving as Margaret O’Neal, plays like a series that knows it is being allowed to finish and is grateful for it. Neither recovers the first season’s grip on grief, because by then the Larsens are gone and nobody is written to replace them.

It has better actors in the two lead roles than the original, and less nerve about everything else. Most critics were split down the middle, and we can see both camps from here. Our recommendation is narrow: watch the first season for Forbes, Sexton, Enos and Kinnaman, and decide at the end of it whether you are willing to wait for an answer.

*Fi1m score 62, published 7 October 2026.*

## What the critics say

The reviews divide almost evenly, and the split follows the show’s lifespan: the first season is received warmly, the later ones much less so. What critics agree on is the cast. Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman are praised across the run, Enos for an understated Sarah Linden and Kinnaman for making Holder the character worth following. Michelle Forbes and later Peter Sarsgaard are singled out, and the direction and sound design are credited with real atmosphere even by those who dislike the writing.

The complaints cluster on pace and plotting. The Hollywood Reporter admires the slow build; Vulture and Variety find it sluggish and overextended, with mysteries that meander rather than tighten, and Vulture calls the writing hackwork dressed as art-house drama. The Guardian notes the remake sits in the shadow of the Danish original. On the final season, Paste is forgiving and Den of Geek finds it bingeable but indecisive. The spread is wide, from near-rave to dismissal.

## Straight answers

**Is The Killing worth watching?**

*The Killing* (2011) is worth starting for its first season and we scored it 62, because Michelle Forbes, Brent Sexton, Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman give the grief and the detective work more weight than the plot deserves. The Larsen case is stretched across 26 episodes and fed with suspects, and we found ourselves counting episodes by the second season. Watch the first and decide whether you can wait.

**Where can I watch The Killing in South Africa?**

*The Killing* is not on any streaming or rental service in South Africa at the moment. It is available in 41 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily.

**How violent or frightening is The Killing, and is it suitable for children?**

*The Killing* (2011) is a 15 in the UK, and it is a murder investigation built around a dead teenage girl and her parents' grief rather than on-screen violence. The weight falls on the Larsen family, and the scene in which the news reaches their kitchen is the hardest thing in it. Not for children; older teenagers who can sit through forty-four slow hours will be fine.

**How does The Killing compare to The Killing?**

*The Killing* (2011) has better actors in its two lead roles than the Danish original it remakes, and less nerve about everything else. Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman give the American version its best strand, but the 2007 series holds its one investigation more tightly and draws more from the family. We would send a newcomer to the Danish series first.

**What should I watch after The Killing?**

After *The Killing*, try [*Forbrydelsen*](https://film.one/tv/the-killing-2007) (2007, Fi1m 84): The Danish original: the same shape, more nerve, and a jumper that started it all. Then [*Top of the Lake*](https://film.one/tv/top-of-the-lake) (2013, Fi1m 82): A missing girl, a damaged detective and a landscape that does half the acting; and [*Prime Suspect*](https://film.one/tv/prime-suspect) (1991, Fi1m 88): Helen Mirren’s Tennison is the model for every tired, unsmiling detective since.

### Reviews we read (7)

- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Tim Goodman (90/100, inferred): Goodman calls the series excellent, absorbing, and addictive despite its deliberate pace. He especially praises Mireille Enos’s riveting, understated performance as detective Sarah Linden. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/killing-tv-review-171764/)
- **The AV Club**, Meredith Blake (B+): Blake finds the episode lively and engaging, restoring the series to her good graces. She especially praises Holder as the show’s most interesting character. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/the-killing-what-you-have-left-1798168125)
- **The Guardian**, Sarah Hughes (60/100, inferred): Hughes finds the opening compelling and largely successful, though the remake is overshadowed by the Danish original. She especially praises the strong characterization and Michelle Forbes’s performance as the missing girl’s mother. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/apr/04/amc-the-killing-review)
- **Vulture**, Matt Zoller Seitz (20/100, inferred): The critic finds the second season only slightly improved, with weak writing and sluggish plotting undermining the series. The atmospheric direction, performances, and sound design stand out, but cannot overcome what he sees as hackwork dressed up as art-house drama. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2012/03/the-killing-season-2-review.html)
- **Variety**, Brian Lowry (15/100, inferred): Lowry finds the third season dull and overextended, concluding the series is not worth getting excited about. He praises Peter Sarsgaard’s compelling addition to the cast, while faulting the slow, meandering narrative. [Read](https://variety.com/2013/tv/reviews/the-killing-review-1200486504/)
- **Paste**, Amy Amatangelo (7.5/10): Amatangelo finds the final season flawed, though she is glad the finale gives its leads peace. She singles out Joel Kinnaman’s performance and praises a cemetery scene between Holder and Kallie’s mother. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/the-killing/the-killing-review-eden)
- **Den of Geek**, Rebecca Stokes (2/5): Stokes finds the season entertaining to binge but ultimately disappointing and indecisive. She praises Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman’s performances, while faulting the competing storylines for feeling distracted and unsatisfying. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-killing-season-4-review/)

## Details

- **Created by:** Veena Sud
- **Creator:** Veena Sud
- **Director:** Ed Bianchi, Nicole Kassell, Dan Attias, Phil Abraham, Agnieszka Holland, Keith Gordon, Lodge Kerrigan, Brad Anderson, Patty Jenkins, Jonathan Demme, Gregory Middleton, Michael Rymer, Tricia Brock, Kevin Bray, Veena Sud, Gwyneth Horder-Payton, Jennifer Getzinger, Coky Giedroyc, Kari Skogland
- **Writer:** Veena Sud, Dawn Prestwich, Nicole Yorkin, Dan Nowak, Eliza Clark, Jeremy Doner, Aaron Zelman, Soo Hugh, Nic Pizzolatto, Wendy Riss Gatsiounis, Linda Burstyn, Nic Sheff, Aaron Slavik, Sean Whitesell, Coleman Herbert, Nathaniel Halpern, David Wiener, Brett Conrad
- **Teleplay:** Veena Sud
- **Producer:** Aaron Zelman, Nicole Yorkin, Dawn Prestwich
- **Cast:** Brendan Sexton III as Belko Royce; Mireille Enos as Sarah Linden; Annie Corley as Regi Darnell; Joel Kinnaman as Stephen Holder; Gregg Henry as Carl Reddick; Joan Allen as Margaret O'Neal; Kristin Lehman as Gwen Eaton; Sterling Beaumon as Lincoln Knopf
- **Release (South Africa):** 3 April 2011
- **Genres:** Drama, Crime, Mystery
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkbfvPeH3G0

## Where to watch in South Africa

Not streaming, renting or buying in South Africa at the last check.

Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HR, IE, IS, IT, JP, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SI, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Forbrydelsen* (2007), Fi1m 84: The Danish original: the same shape, more nerve, and a jumper that started it all — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/the-killing-2007.md)
- *Top of the Lake* (2013), Fi1m 82: A missing girl, a damaged detective and a landscape that does half the acting — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/top-of-the-lake.md)
- *Twin Peaks* (1990): The dead girl, the small town and the long wait, done with far more mischief
- *Prime Suspect* (1991), Fi1m 88: Helen Mirren’s Tennison is the model for every tired, unsmiling detective since — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/prime-suspect.md)
- *Zodiac* (2007), Fi1m 91: Rain, paperwork and obsession; a procedural that makes not knowing the point — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/zodiac.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/the-killing-2011