We could say, without fear of being wrong, that the most interesting of ‘hunt the culprit‘ (Suspect), a police drama starring James Nesbitt (‘The Missing’, for example) that Movistar Plus+ premieres today, is its format. Its structure, rather, since it helps a lot so that the proposal does not become somewhat heavy.
With eight episodes of about 23 minutes each, the series is structured in a very clear way: a chapter, a person related to the victim and who becomes a suspect in the personal crusade that our protagonist has to prove that his daughter, whom he barely knows, has been murdered.
In this way, in each episode we meet one of these persons of interest (played by Niamh Algar, Antonia Thomas, Sacha Dawan, Sam Heughan, Richard E. Grant, Anne-Marie Duff, etc.) in some cases almost at the same time as our protagonist. Each chapter is basically that: a more or less tense conversation in a couple of scenarios.
suspects
The script of Matt Baker (based on the Danish ‘Forhøret’) presents things very clearly to us. It is, to a certain extent, quite classic in its approach and in the development of our detective (which is quite generic) with that intense search and his involvement with an apparent suicide case.
On the other hand, the address of Dries Vos breathes a dreamlike touch into the stagingwhich allows not only to give a distinction to what on the other hand could be too generic but also to explore the wide range of emotions of Nesbitt’s character, who is seen trying not to get overwhelmed by the situation.
Being made in this way, almost as if it were a play, ‘Hunt the culprit’ it is tremendously expository. The continuous dialogues are the ones that gradually reveal to us who our victim really is, what she was involved in and what she could have happened.
This is not so much a defect but a bet according to the original Danish series. Another thing is that the series works quite well with the absence of any more action or, at least, detective investigation beyond veiled unofficial interrogations.
Beyond that, it must be recognized that ‘Hunt the culprit’ is quite effective in what it proposes. Although I think it’s a fake in its tone and length it doesn’t allow for further exploration of the characters, it makes for an appetizing appetizer for an afternoon marathon if only for its impressive cast.