Wallander: Sidetracked / Firewall / One Step Behind

Kenneth Branagh plays Swedish detective Kurt Wallander in three new crime dramas based on the best-selling books by Henning Mankell, an international publishing phenomenon with over 25 million copies sold worldwide. Baffling crimes and apparently motiveless murders lead to surprising and shocking discoveries in these Swedish noir thrillers. Sidetracked, Firewall, and One Step Behind follow Inspector Kurt Wallander - a disillusioned everyman - as he struggles against a rising tide of violence in the seemingly sleepy backwaters in and around Ystad in beautiful southern Sweden.

Around him, mysterious and shocking crimes are taking place, and it's his job to get to the bottom of them. It's a terrific performance from a very strong actor. And, combined with Branagh in excellent form, Wallander at its best is both brilliant, and a little bit different, and it's very much worth checking out. It's well made, too, with some stylish directional choices that may isolate some viewers, but do enhance the production. Filmed on location in Sweden, yet still more British in feel than you'd perhaps expect, Wallander nonetheless is intelligent and at times gripping drama. There's clearly been a lot of thought and planning involved here, and it pays dividends. Branagh takes the title role, and he's Wallander's leading asset. He's aided by a good, if unspectacular, supporting cast, although nods must go to Sarah Smart and Tom Hiddleston. That said, Wallander is likely to be a divisive show. Naturally, this is also what strengthens it. It eschews quite a few of the conventions of the genre, instead playing things more downbeat than we've become accustomed to. His performance is grumpy and downbeat, and he skillfully underplays his role. Giving a rare and welcome television leading role to Kenneth Branagh, Wallander is about a Swedish detective who is brought to the screen in three 90-minute adventures based on the hugely popular novels by Henning Mankell. --Jon Foster