Review: 'Beck – The Invisible Man' on TV4 Play

Valter Skarsgård, Jennie Silfverhjelm, Martin Wallström, Peter Haber, Måns Nathanaelson, Elmira Arikan, Nina Zanjani, Oscar Skagerberg

Nina Zanjani's character, Ebba Ståhl, puts it best: "You don't get a Ferrari just to leave it in the garage."

She's referring to Vilhelm Beck.

I'm talking about 'Beck' as an ever-evolving film franchise.

While other 'Beck' films may idle with the engine running, 'Beck – The Invisible Man' dares to explore both old and new paths. Although it loses speed in some curves and may not be the fastest ride, it's enjoyable to be in the passenger seat.

This is partly due to director Per Hanefjord and the writing duo Fredrik Agetoft and Peter Arrhenius. The inclusion of small humorous sequences and everyday mishaps is certainly refreshing.

Rarely has a 'Beck' film felt so relaxed – at times, there's even a twinkle in the eye – and sharp at the same time.

Here, as almost always, it begins with a murder. There are connections to what is called a university but is mostly a kind of camp for men. Their leader is Victor Roos, played by Oscar Skagerberg, known from the series 'Börje'.

In his portrayal, Skagerberg almost does for the film what Tom Cruise did for 'Magnolia'; viewers are either captivated or laugh out loud. I think Skagerberg stays on the right side of the line, even though he bears a striking resemblance to Cruise.

In 'The Invisible Man', there is a theme that touches on contemporary issues. That's nice. What I appreciate most is how the relationship between Alex Beijer and Josef Eriksson – played by Jennie Silfverhjelm and Martin Wallström – is allowed to fully blossom in a 'will they or won't they?' narrative.

This brings much-needed breaks from what has become burdensome in recent films: the characters in the 'Beck' universe now have so much emotional and psychological baggage to handle that a car like this easily becomes back-heavy and skids.

So even if 'Beck – The Invisible Man' isn't freshly polished, we should be glad that the film at least leaves its parked spot for a while.