Review: Straight Forward

Cecilie Stenspil in Straight Forward

Straight Forward is an Acorn TV production between Denmark and New Zealand. It’s set it both places. It’s the story of a con woman and how she struggles to save herself and her family from a Danish thug.

Danish actress Cecilie Stenspil stars as Robyn in Straight Forward. Robyn’s father is killed in Copenhagen. She decides to get revenge for her father’s death on the crime boss Ravn (Mark Mitchinson) by stealing millions from him.

Being crosswise with Ravn is a dangerous idea. Robyn runs from him. The whole family is in danger. Robyn’s rebellious teenaged daughter Ida (Marie Boda) travels separately toward safety from Ravn.

Robyn’s mother (Vibeke Hastrup) is something of a con artist herself. She refuses to leave Denmark until she’s put her husband to rest. She finds a way to bury her husband as she wants and still make a getaway. All three of them head for New Zealand.

Chasing after Robyn and her family are a whole gaggle of Ravn’s men with one very tough woman named Karmen (Mia Pistorius). Also chasing her across the globe from Denmark to New Zealand is a disgraced cop named Qvist (Troels Lyby). Qvist wants to put her in jail.

In New Zealand, Robyn happens onto a coffee shop owned by Bruno Martini and his son Adam. (Sorry, I can’t find names for either of these actors anywhere.) She gets a job there and has a place to live above the cafe. It seems like a good place to hide out.

Adam promptly falls for Robyn, which is quite handy for her because a bunch of people want her A) dead and a lot poorer, or B) in a Danish jail. Her peaceful hideaway becomes infested with people chasing her. Adam and his dad want to help her. Even though they just met her. Even though they can see that she lies a lot. Even though killers are after her. True love conquers all.

The cat and mouse chase after Robyn and her family is exciting and interesting. Robyn makes everything into a con, so there are unexpected turns in the plot. There are kidnappings and beatings, real and fake deaths, backstabbing traitors and loyal friends. In 8 episodes, this mystery thriller covers quite a few perils.

Huss (Arlo Green) is Robyn’s family’s loyal friend. He does many things to help them escape. Huss is a tech genius. His counterpart in Ravn’s organization is Nord (Stephane Garneau-Monten). Nord is firmly on the evil side of the story.

This series wasn’t the most masterfully written mystery series ever, but it was certainly engaging. It kept me going for 8 episodes. The female characters were clever and resilient. The series was written by John Banas and had all men directors. Banas has a long list of writing credits, including several episodes of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.

Filmed in both Denmark and New Zealand, the scenery shots are beautiful. New Zealand is always photogenic. The series is in Danish and English.

The Poster!

The Straight Forward poster

Watch the trailer for Straight Forward

Have you watched this series? What did you think of it?

1 thought on “Review: Straight Forward”

  1. Pingback: So Many Great Foreign Films and TV in English - Old Ain't Dead

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