A Conspiracy of Faith

Fans of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and “True Detective” will be first in line for this gritty thriller, which shattered Denmark’s 15- year box office record when it concluded the Department Q trilogy. Standing alone narratively and cinematically, “A Conspiracy of Faith” follows a Copenhagen cold case squad as they track a serial killer back to a tight-knit religious community after a message in a bottle, written in blood by children, is found 14 years after a kidnapping. Surly detective Carl Mørck and his genial partner Assad follow leads that take them deep into a horrific case involving a psychopathic murderer, religious fanaticism, and abducted siblings never reported missing by their parents. The film’s riveting—and utterly terrifying—villain, its expertly plotted twists, and the searching questions it poses about faith, God, and the nature of evil make this sophisticated thriller one of the year’s best crime dramas.