DER PASS **** Germany / Austria 2018 Writers: Cyrill Boss, Philipp Stennert, Mike Majzen. Directors: Cyril Boss, Philipp Stennert. Series 1: 8 episodes (approx. 43 mins per episode)
DER PASS is a slow burn thriller TV series with a remarkable location that will chill you to the bone with what begins with the discovery of a gruesomely staged dead body near the Germany-Austrian mountain pass, right upto its shocking finale.
The two lead detectives on the case, German detective Ellie Stocker (Julia Jentsch) and Austrian detective Gedeon Winter (Nicholas Ofczarek), have a tense relationship trying to solve the so called Krampus Killer murders. Matters are not helped by media and political interference which only exasperates the situation between the police and the murderer. As the murders intensify and the sense that the killer is within the police’s fingertips, Gedeon’s past comes back to haunt him.
This is not a blood and guts kind of show (though it does have this in parts) but is built on great writing, exceptional acting and the ability to shock you in every episode with each new revelation. As mentioned the casting throughout is spot on, with Nicholas Ofczarek as the standout actor as jaded detective Gedeon Winter rediscovering his true self. In regards to the Krampus Killer, the killers persona at times comes across as the bloody disturbed experiment of a cross between Hannibal Lecter and John Wayne Gacy. Meaning that you wouldn’t think of the person as a killer as they are just your average every day to day person you pass on the street.
Being that this series is only 8 episodes long, to pick a standout out episode would be unfair to what is as a whole a standout show. Fans of the TV series THE BRIDGE will want to add DER PASS to their watchlist.
Review by Peter ‘Witchfinder‘ Hopkins