Based on true events, the Netflix Swedish crime miniseries follows a detective and a genealogist who team up to solve a 16-year-old double homicide case before it becomes a cold case. Through this, they aim to bring the killer to justice as well as give the victims’ families the closure that they require.
The series is based on ‘Genombrottet: Så löste släktforskaren dubbelmordet i Linköping’ by Anna Bodin and Peter Sjölund. The series has 4 episodes, each with a runtime of around 40 minutes.
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The Breakthrough Netflix Cast
Peter Eggers, Mattias Nordkvist, Jessica Liedberg, Jonatan Rodriguez, Karin de Frumerie, Annika Hallin, Julia Sporre, Malin Güettler, Pevin Hannah Namek Sali, Helen Al-Janabi
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The Breakthrough 2025 Director
Lisa Siwe
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The Breakthrough Series Writer
Oskar Söderlund
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AKA
Genombrottet
– No Spoilers –
The Breakthrough Review
What’s worse than a murder of an unlikely and innocent person is a murder without any motive or reason. Netflix’s The Breakthrough is a gut-wrenching journey down a thrilling and devasting route that will surely suck viewers in and leave them reeling. With just 4 short episodes, the series packs the punch from the beginning, setting the scene and bringing in the intrigue in the same breath. Tense and unrelenting, the series does a great job of creating a tense atmosphere and holding onto it. The devastation that such a senseless crime can bring to not just the family, but the community as a whole, hits home every minute of the runtime.
The series focuses heavily on the emotional component of the entire scenario which weighs heavy on viewers. With only 4 episodes, the series shouldn’t have been too boring and, at first, it does feel quite thrilling. However, somehow boredom sets in after the first episode because nothing truly happens for us to stay hooked. For a crime show to work, it must actually try to solve the case somehow to keep us on the edge. But I found this Netflix series to be quite laid back when it comes to giving us something other than John flailing about with his ego until something finally happens in the last episode.
Considering the true story takes over a decade and then some to be solved, the series thankfully time skips through the unnecessary stagnant periods, but even then it’s oddly sluggish. It never attempts to get the ball rolling in any way and sometimes you can’t help but ask whether John tried to do anything other than make some claims!
I think the characters portrayed in the series could’ve been better. Listen, this is fiction based on non-fiction, and thus John could’ve been a character with a little more humbleness and a little less unfounded overconfidence. Although it’s interesting watching him desperately racing against time to see this situation through, I think I found myself a bit annoyed with his character, which doesn’t really let up. His dedication is praiseworthy, but maybe that’s what gets him in the hole which is a hard pill to swallow because a young child’s justice is on the line!
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The dynamic between John and Per is also not discussed enough, though it was fascinating to watch as the episodes pass with the lone wolf John facing resistance for the first time from Per, who is quite headstrong when it comes to his work. I found Per to be quite a fascinating subject, but again, there’s not enough time to discuss it. Peter Eggers and Mattias Nordkvist are great as John and Per and even though their characters are quite the downer, I liked both the actors’ performances – it fits right in.
The problem with The Breakthrough is that it really drops the ball after the first episode and somehow forgets to continue on creating a mysterious and emotionally encumbering situation that the characters are in. There are several situations and moments which could’ve made this series truly memorable but the series doesn’t do anything with anything, thus reducing it to just another crime-drama that has nothing memorable to say.
Final Thoughts
The Breakthrough is an odd cookie. Its thoroughly interesting subject is marred thanks to its flawed execution that bogs down the runtime by doing absolutely nothing. However, it makes you want to keep watching it till the end to know whether or not John finally catches the killer. It’s truly a predicament to behold.
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Agree completely. The pace of the show at times seem to be slower than the 16-year investigation itself. The investigator was bland, slow, and I found myself wondering if his IQ was higher than the victim’s age. Good thing he heard about the Goren Gate killer being caught. He seemed to do nothing effective on his own.
I agree with everything you wrote but want to add that I wish Per’s genealogy search could have given us more clarification as to how it worked etc. instead of the audience just seeing numerous notes tacked onto the board.