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TV series
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Once a Cop...

1987 · 1 season

A grim, slow-burning Nordic crime drama that follows a broken man through a tangled underworld of drugs, betrayal, and family grief.

Created by
Anders Refn
Overview
Policeman Karl Jørgensen was once a prominent detective, but due to a violent temper he's now checking out passports at the airport, smuggling stout to work in his thermos every day. However, Kaj, the boyfriend of his daughter, is suddenly killed by a heroin overdose injected by hooded gangsters. It turns out he was spying on their organisation for his brother, Frank, who was framed by them while smuggling narcotics. When Frank hears about Kaj's death, he escapes from prison to get back at the killers. Meanwhile, the same gangsters threaten Karl Jørgensen's daughter, and soon Karl is involved in a major drug smuggling case. Frank and his buddy rob a bank and shoot a police officer. A country-wide manhunt ensues while Karl is having trouble with controlling his daughter's vigilante activities, with finding out who killed Kaj, with the police detectives on the case and with his own alcoholic and lacking existence.
How it feels
Dark, tense, melancholic and cynical. Measured and needs your attention.
About
Crime, revenge, corruption, family
Content
Strong violence and language. Mild gore and sexual content.
Note
Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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Created by
Anders Refn
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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Full breakdown
Tone
  • darkstrength 2 of 3
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • cynicalstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • crime
  • revenge
  • corruption
  • family
  • addiction
Places
  • big city
  • workplace
Era
contemporary
Audience
adult
Form
  • serialised
Content intensity
  • Gore mild
  • Language strong
  • Violence strong
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action5
Horror2
Humour2
Realism8
Romance1
Tension7
Darkness7
Complexity6
Emotional weight7

Cast

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Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

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