User Reviews

I watched ' The Investigation ' and I was enthralled but most would find that offering way too slow moving. So I was intrigued by this documentary with the same subject matter and I was not disappointed. An exploration of a seemingly random killing or actually bad luck; wrong place wrong time. Intelligent coverage of what was a such a sensational murder and criminal trial. Interesting, informative, sensitive rendering of a a tragic loss of a young curious female journalist trying to get a story. This documentary is everything that 'sensational media' discounts because they want the sensation and not necessarily the complete story. I have not watched much in this genre since I watched 'City Confidential' which I avidly watched a long time ago. This documentary is sensitive intelligent and extremely well executed.

Is worth seeing. Good documentary, but kind of weirdly felt like there could have been more and less. The more would have been as some others noted (spouse, boyfriend, escape, etc.). For me, the less would be the interviews where different individuals contextualize the murder into other issue areas. Not sure those were very inciteful and detracted a bit from the telling of a very real human tragedy.

Kim Wall (Journalist) and her Partner Ole Stobbe threw a formal farewell party to friends and family for their decision to move to Beijing on August 16th. Peter Madison is an outlandishly mouthy hyperactive scientist who seems to support an apathetic mental torpor. Nevertheless, he convinces Kim Wall to pay a visit to his hand-made miniature submarine named UC3 Nautilus. 2 people, Kim and Peter leave the docks for a test drive on August 11th, (5 days before Kim and her partner Ole's move to Beijing) with the sub at around 7:00 PM (local time). Only one person, Peter Madison, returns.

The bizarre story follows his arraignment and imprisonment. Then a stupendous escape ensues in the MacGyver style from the prison. Finally, his twisted personality turns the court system into a media circus. Albeit none of his efforts enable him to attain his freedom.

At last, in 2020, Peter Madison admitted to killing Kim Wall. The Netflix documentary undertakes this raw and crazy story in style. It is Choreographed elegantly and coherently, a well-told dramatic chronicle.

It's really gross and sad to see reviews of this documentary that say it would have been better and could have been covered in less time if there was less focus on Kim's life, who she was as a person, and the people who loved her. Not only is that disgusting, but it also willfully ignores the point of telling these stories and, in fact, the entire point of this documentary (a point which was clearly expressed several times throughout). The point of true crime stories shouldn't be solely focusing on the killer and the crime. These stories shouldn't make the killers a household name while only focusing on the victim for as long as it takes to describe the worst day of their life. These stories need to show the other side of things- the void left in people's lives and in the world now that this person has been taken out of it. We know too many "famous" killers' names and yet next to nothing about their victims. This documentary does an amazing job of balancing the story and the trial with the human impact of Kim's death. It's just really pitiful that folks don't seem to have enough attention span for both.

I dont really understand the reviews saying that this was extremely slow and boring? I never heard about this crime before and for me it was not boring at all. It kept adding more and more gruesome disturbing details of what happened to this poor woman. The story's timeline was a bit annoying to follow in some places, but other then that it was a very interesting crime story, one of the most horrific I saw. I feel so sorry for the family and friends of the victim and of course they have the rigth to talk about the victim as much they want, if you are not interested don't watch. As for the killer there is not much to it, it is a psychological condition he has and he fulfilled his dream.

Could have been done with one episode. Way to many unnecessary cut aways. Felt like it was in slow motion. Could have been much less boring. Not much else to add but 150 character requirement.

Exceptionally well made documentary on the disappearance and murder of an innocent journalist.

What starts out as a harmless interview and tour of a home made submarine with its owner, the story turns into one of mystery when only 1 person returns from what was supposed to be a short 2 hour tour out to sea.

The story of what happens is well told with the story flipping back and forth between interviews with different people so it keeps you guessing as to what actually happened. When the details finally came out I just sat there with my jaw on the floor asking why??

The details of what happened is nothing short of disturbing. The reason 'why' is as dark as it is evil.

I found this short 2-part documentary one of the best movies I've ever seen. It kept me guessing then knocked me out when it revealed the details of what occurred. The plot would make excellent material for a fictional, thriller movie - only this is true.

Highly recommend.

This could have probably been told a bit quicker, maybe in one part rather than two. However, overall, I appreciated the way this story was told. I watched this, as well as another documentary on the same disappearance, and this one does a far better job of speaking for the victim (Amy Wall) and giving voice to the tragedy. Many of her friends are involved with the production as well.

It was a case I hadn't heard about before and so I was fascinated (and horrified) to learn about everything that happened.

This is a very easy to follow film and I definitely thought it was worth watching this.

This could've been captivating had it not been watered down with a slow pace and filler to stretch this into 2 episodes. Otherwise we'll done and worth watching.

Theres so many words spoken in this content milking documentary, yet so few facts or words of interest. A 20 minute story told in 2 hours.

There is a painful trend with this type of docu series, a backside of streaming plattforms i guess.

For a true crime story involving a journalist, you'd think this documentary would involve the relevant facts and not too much fluff. Instead it is the most boring true crime story I think I've ever watched. This had all the potential to be riveting given the circumstances of the case but instead here I am watching someone who barely knew the victim once tell a reaaaaalllly long story about going to a restaurant in a bad part of town 10 years ago that has absolutely no relevance to anything whatsoever. Don't waste your time. This is the worst of HBO.

I am so annoyed at this doc that I created an imdb account and posted my only review just to vent!

This was the slowest documentary I have ever seen. It could have been good but it was drug out far too long. It was so painful to watch I ended up turning it off and have no clue what happened.

This doc was boring. It would have been a great 30 minute doc, but it was dragged out alot. There was too much unecessary focus on Kim's background. That focus should have been more on the crime and psychology of Peter. Would not recomend.

While the subject matter is fascinating and the focus on Kim Wall as opposed to the murderer admirable, this documentary was stretched to bizarre lengths... and I can't fathom why. This would've worked much better as an 80-minute doc, and literally no content would have to be cut; only the endless slo-mo transitions would have to be trimmed.

The length really hurts the storytelling, as I felt myself lulled into boredom on multiple occasions. The content should drive the length; not the editor's love for overlong transitions.

I came close to turning this off after five minutes or so, because there were an abundance of journalists delivering a very self serving view of the profession, furiously patting themselves on their backs. I skipped forward to the actual events which took of perhaps 30-40 minutes of the first hour-long episode.

The second episode was basically the same people acting as armchair psychologists doing their worst to diagnose Peter Madsen. But the suffering didn't stop there. The last half hour or so were the usual feminist conspiracy theories one have come to expect from Erin Lee Carr, complete with faceless anonymous witnesses crying as if on cue.

Kim Wall deserved better than to have her memory besmirched by an opportunist hack like Carr.

"Undercurrent: The Disappearance of Kim Wall" (2022 release; 2 parts totaling 126 min.) is a documentary about the brutal murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall. As Part 1 "The Crime" opens, it is "August 10, 2017" as Kim Wall boards the submarine which Danish eccentric inventor Peter Madsen has built himself. She is doing a piece on him for Wired magazine. The submarine does not return to shore, and before too long, the Danish authorities start looking for it... At this point we are 10 min into Part 1.

Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from Erin Lee Carr, a widely respected and award-winning documentarian ("I Love You, Now Die"; "At the Heart Of Gold: Inside the USA Gymnastics Scandal"). Here she looks back at the savage (and worse) murder of Kim Wall by Peter Madsen. This 2 part documentary is like Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde. Part 1 feels hurried and aloof, certainly as compared to last year's excellent Danish 6 part mini-series "The Investigation", which truly conveys the efforts by the Danish authorities to tie Madsen to the murder. Then, just as surprising, Part 2 "The Punishment" is an excellent assessment what drove Madsen to do what he did (something that is barely addressed in "The Investigation"). Frankly, I was ready to bail on "Undercurrent" after the disappointing Part 1. Glad I decided to ride it our. Boottom line: if, like me, you have seen "The Investigation", you will not miss out on much if you skip Part 1 of "Undercurrent" and instead you go straight to Part 2.

"Undercurrent: The Disappearance of Kim Wall" recently premiered on HBO and is now available on HBO On Demand and HBO Max, where I caught it. If you are interested in true crime documentaries, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion, although for those of you who have seen "The Investigation", I'd go straight to Part 2.