User reviews

Well worth watching. There are no car-chases. No fist-fights with slim women out-punching WWF fighters. No shootouts with bulletproof goodies. Hurray! A well constructed thriller played out by good actors. Plenty of twists and turns. The heroine and her son are the standout characters but the supporting players set the scene well even if they are a bit inconsequential. It won't strain your brain cells and there a few small plot holes but, overall, the actors and screenplay produced a watchable series.

A very exciting watch all the way through with well developed plot delivered by a strong cast. Up there with The Bridge and The Killing imo and can't understand some of the rather more negative reviews on IMDb

Greyzone explores the idea that between right and wrong, good and evil, there is a place of conflict and confusion where the wires cross and the lines blur. We are taken on a thrilling journey with Victoria that keeps us gripped to the edge of our seats and asks us a few moral questions along the way. Throughout the course of 10 episodes we follow the story from the perspectives of Eva and Jesper, two agents working to gather intelligence and Victoria, a single mother held hostage and forced to carry out a series of tasks that ultimately arm the terrorists with a working weapon.

The series packs enough twists and turns in to make full use of every instalment and the early episodes do a good job in moving the narrative forward quickly, without too much time spent setting things up. In the first scene, Eva finds herself in a shootout in the back of a lorry which leaves us with a dead border guard, a wounded runaway and an abandoned military grade missile. However, despite an action packed opening sequence the Hollywood shoot-outs and big budget chase scenes are used sparing throughout the series. Greyzone focuses less on the all-guns-blazing action thriller model and instead relies heavily on a brilliantly executed series of suspenseful twists and turns that keep us intensely engaged in the plight of each character. Although it didn't feel as if the action sequences were missing it would've been nice to see the legal speed limit broken occasionally during some of the slowest pursuits I've ever seen. But maybe that's a bit picky.

Perhaps the greatest weapon in this series is Birgitte Hjort Sørensen's performance as Victoria. She goes through it all, from incredibly believable panic attacks and raging outbursts of anger to moments of fragility, hopelessness and fear. Victoria experiences just about every emotion there is during her ordeal and Greyzone needs you to feel it all. Sörensen's outstanding ability to make you feel every emotion of her character is amazing and if you don't find your heart racing or your jaw dropped regularly throughout the series then you're probably not human.

Ardalan Esmaili co-stars as Victoria's captor, Ilyad and rises to meet the monumental challenge of matching Sørensen's performance in some of the most moving and memorable scenes. It is their chemistry that defines the success of the series and his portrayal of an angry and conflicted character with a believable and touching backstory turns what could've been a simple and predictable story into one that asks questions of its audience and gives us something that feels fresh, exciting and unpredictable.

There are some seemingly pointless sidesteps into additional storylines involving Victoria's ex-husband and mother, Eva's daughter, Jesper's previous relations and even a half-hearted stab at exposing some high-level corruption but all of that felt largely meaningless and the series might've benefited from trimming some of the fat. That said, some of it served to paint a more rounded picture of each character and although it did slow the pace of things a little, I suppose it gave us a chance to steel ourselves for the next big moment.

All in all, prepare for an intelligent and intense thriller that explores espionage, extremism and Stockholm syndrome with a smorgasbord of emotions to boot.

I finished the third season of Borgen and then decided to watch this. I'm glad I did because it's superb. The plot, acting and cinematography are all top notch. It had me on the edge of my seat many times. I very highly recommend this show to anyone who likes tense thrillers with depth to them.

On a side note, I think Ardalan Esmaili is the new George Clooney.

Good acting but too many situations where people do stupid things just to make the story work.

While this starts as any regular Thriller might-- it exceeds in expectations. Several strong Female leads. One fantastic, incredible kid! Virgil Katring-Rasmussen He did such a natural job... rare in the world of child actors. Yes, there were plotlines, expected, predictable, yet enough uniqueness to keep attention strong. Even at the end, it doesn't end with High-Fives. It reflects on impact on participants. One helluva great Mom, (and kid) -- perfect.

Global terrorism and mass killings in bigger Western cities have alas become annual reality, so topical films and series may excite additional interest, they are less "sci-fi" than decades ago. On the other hand, technology and surveillance skills have developed, so it is harder to create additional thrill or twists by using wow!-findings or ideas later - they seem fictitious, airy-fairy...

The latter is at times present in Greyzone as well, particularly for them who are eager viewers of (Scandinavian) crime dramas - like me. I am neither agent nor policeman, but methods used / using a scientist in such operations seem rather questionable. True, when setting this aside, the script goes on smoothly, the characters/performances (particularly Birgitte Hjort Sørensen and Tova Magnusson) are pleasant, and the inclusion of different nations/languages provides additional value. But still, having seen dozens of similar series, I find Gråzon far above average, but not conceptual, and viewers outside Northern Europe may find it even less valuable.

This is the best miniseries I have seen for quite some time. The plot is believable, acting superb, thrilling & highly suspenseful.

"Greyzone" (original title: "Gråzon") is a Swedish/Danish collaboration, one that gave us the iconic Bron/Broen TV series in the recent past, and features an intriguing espionage-thriller type storyline which unravels in the ten episodes of Season 1. The companies C More (Sweden) and TV2 (Denmark) were among the distributors of the show which casts popular actors from both countries such as Birgitte Hjort Sørensen ("Borgen", "3 Things"), Tova Magnusson ("Bron/Broen", "The Stockholm Syndrome"), Ardalan Esmaili ("The Charmer", "Domino"), Christopher Wollter ("Quicksand", "Modus"), and many others. The show was written by four screenwriters whose cooperation created a fast-moving plot, but also developed characters with whom the audience identifies and cares about, especially for the two protagonists, Victoria and Iyad.

Victoria is a high-ranking employer in a company called SparrowTech and her work is to create drones for various uses. When she gives a lecture in Germany on SparrowTech's new model drone, Victoria will meet again a former acquaintance from her university years in Lund, a town in the Northernmost parts of Sweden. The person she meets is Iyad, a Syrian refugee in Sweden, who came to the country when he was ten years old to escape from the war in his home country. Iyad will soon prove to be not who and what he claims to be and Victoria will become his hostage, under a threat against her family and more specifically against her 6-year-old son, Oskar. Victoria will be forced to spy on her own company and steal important information and devices from it, thus betraying all her colleagues and friends.

The pacing at which the plot's unfolding is fast and the show builds suspense on an episode basis as in each one Victoria is called to complete a mission, most usually having to do with stealing stuff from her work. At the same time. the audience watches the evolution of the relationship between Victoria and Iyad which while it begins as a cliche perpetrator-hostage. it gradually begins to develop and evolve to something that makes the two characters to come closer and know each other better. This part, the character-oriented-, of "Greyzone" is also what makes the show stand out from all the similar Scandinavian crime TV shows that are being produced at full-speed nowadays. Both actors, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen and Ardalan Esmaili succeed in giving an honest and truthful performance that makes the two protagonists seem like three-dimensional human beings rather than cardboard characters. As we watch Victoria and Iyad treating each other with more and more respect we also begin to understand what will happen in the finale of the show which, though appropriate in terms of storyline, is kind of anti-climactic and foreseeable, thus leaving the audience somehow disappointed.

I think that I read somewhere on the Web that a second season is developing and will air in the following year. It would be interesting to see if there is more to the story and main characters. There are many loose ends left in the ending, all of them having to do with the characters' personal sub-plots, though none concerning the story per se. In the end, we have all the answers we need as the audience and this is a major accomplishment for the show's creators. Personally, I would like to see what happens next, so I will be watching the first episodes of Season 2 whenever they will be released.

I am a huge fan of this show. I've seen the four first episodes and cant wait to see the rest. Fantastick manuscript, acting, suspense. I want more now!

Greyzone, an underrated deep Thriller Drama with Nordic vibes and a very interesting premise, well-developed and exploring nicely the Stockholm syndrome on the way. Its strength is its acting and story.

• (+) Suspenseful and thrilling screenplay and storyline's plots. Some scenes had you on the edge of your seat.
• (+) Character-driven series with awesome emotional moments.
• (+) Wonderful and believable acting by Victoria (Birgitte Hjort Sørensen) and Iyad (Ardalan Esmaili) with nice touches of chemistry between them, Pretty good job from all the supporting cast; Also liked the character of Jesper (Joachim Fjelstrup) very much.
• (+) Very good filming and beautiful aerial shots.
• (+-) Good score. Could have been more intense.

The spectrum of emotions shown by Birgitte Hjort Sørensen was just outstanding. A show that deserves a lot more reviews and recognition.

The depth and attention to details of Scandinavian series never cease to amaze me.

Very entertaining series, which gripped me all the way through. Birgitte Hjort Sørensen was fabulous as always!

Plenty of scope to develop the characters and story in future series.

Excellent, well acted, gripping series with strong, believable characters. The only distraction for me was that Iyad (Ardalan Esmaili) is the splitting image of Virat Kohli, the Indian cricket captain, so I often imagined him playing the role.

Enjoyable suspense thriller. Ardalan Esmaili is especially good at the antagonist Iyad.

I am ADDICTED to Nordic thrillers! This definitely didn't disappoint me!

One of the best movies I seen in the line of Swedish Danish production. I'm not a fan of American production but I believe they know how to make a believable story worth credit.

You won't know what you've signed up for once you start watching this series. It might seem like an ordinary crime drama in the first episodes, but it evolves into a psychological thriller with oppressing suspense leaving you with chewed off fingernails. It's hard not to get emotionally invested and once you do this series becomes very anxious to watch but also very rewarding. The subject mater is something new and it's done very well here. In essence it's about the human side of captivity and abuse and the emotional dilemmas that ensue.

Of course the series ruins itself a little by not letting go of some of the cliches of the nordic crime thrillers. The cops are the worst characters except from Jesper who is pretty good. The "main cop" Eva is absolute trash. She must have been really bad in the script but she is also poorly played by Tova Magnusson. Jespers background is a bit interesting but they also try to give Eva a story outside of the case which feels extremely superfluous. She is not interesting at all and I very much dislike her. However, this doesn't matter because the main characters are Victoria and Iyad and they are played very well by their actors. This show is absolutely carried by Birgitte Hjort Sørensen in the role as Victoria. She gives a fantastic performance. There isn't much else to say. Don't write this off as just another nordic crime, because it's deeper than that. Amazing series. Watch it!

E01, the main police character goes to make an arrest of a terrorist suspect. Alone, gets in to shootout, no backup, no uniforms. Terrorist escapes with gun wound.

E02, informant helps police get to safe house of suspect. He escapes, picked up in black van, no police on street no cordon. Laughably, police officer then calls for a cordon.

At one point a senior mil Intel officer tings the main cop to tell her that the warhead explosive (that they found) is (I kid you not) highly explosive. Pure farce!

So bad it is actually comical. But what is serious is that this rubbish can attract 9/10 and 10/10 reviews on this site. Why bother writing intelligent stories when there are so many brain dead sheep out there?

It's the bes miniseries I' ve seen for a long time