Inspired by true events, What Remains tells the harrowing story of a mentally ill Scandinavian man who confessed to, and was convicted of, more than 30 murders of young boys. Based on the life of Sweden’s most notorious serial killer Thomas Quick, filmmaker Ran Huang avoids turning this emotionally fraught story into a showy spectacle. It can be argued that the true crime genre, as a whole, has become “Netflix-ified,” catering to audiences who crave easily digestible, pop culture content over the more mundane reality of police investigations. What Remains is not an easy watch in any sense. It is dark, voyeuristic, and devastating. It is also an interesting meditative study of the effect trauma has on memory, and how the body keeps the score.

An Unsolved Disappearance Threatens a Massive Unraveling

Mads Lake (Gustaf Skarsgård) has been held in a Scandinavian psychiatric hospital for years after being convicted of molesting multiple young boys. Recently, though, his chance to start over and rejoin society is actually within reach. The thought both excites and terrifies him. Mads currently exists in the world as a shell of a human. He has hollow eyes and a shaky voice that barely registers above a whisper. His long, stringy hair and unkempt appearance show obvious signs of depression and defeat. His look is the epitome of a guilty man.

This is also the impression he gives his therapist Anna Rudebeck (Academy Award-nominated Andrea Riseborough) upon their first meeting. However, she can see through Mads’ physical appearance as she gently digs into his past in search of the canon event that altered his life. It’s not long before she discovers that Mads was sexually abused as a child by his father. Hearing this, Anna stays neutral and non-judgemental, offering patience and grace. However, Officer Soren Rank (Stellan Skarsgård) has a less lenient approach. His only goal is to get to the truth of the unsolved disappearance of a six-year-old boy that Mads may have been involved in.

Watch the What Remains trailer here.

Anna and Soren’s opposing viewpoints sometimes lead to tense conversations, which only makes Mads’ memory murky. Did he kill this boy, and the others he abused? At first, Mads is adamant he had nothing to do with this boy’s disappearance. But as evidence is produced that seems to claim otherwise, Mads begins to question everything he thought he knew about himself.

A Skarsgård Family Affair

What Remains is a bold directorial debut for Ran Huang, whose only previous credit includes the 2014 short The Administration of Glory. Most notable is the deliberately slow pacing, almost leaning into director Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s territory. For a high-intensity, high-stakes thriller, Ran Huang unfolds the narrative beats in What Remains with almost too much restraint. Running two hours and six minutes, a tighter edit could have offered a stronger thrill component to the story. As it currently plays, the abundance of silence dilutes the tension.

The darkness of the subject matter equally matches the film’s visual aesthetic. The score, composed by Ben Frost, includes limited cues. But when the intensity of the music starts to creep in, it effectively shifts the whole mood. It’s also worth pointing out that What Remains is a family affair for Sweden’s royal family, the Skarsgårds. Not only does Stellan and his son Gustaf star in the film but Megan Everett-Skarsgard (Stellan’s second wife and Gustaf’s stepmother) co-wrote the screenplay.

Takeaway

Again, What Remains is not an easy watch, but it does offer a fascinating look at procedural psychology in action. The performances are steadfast and strong, which is to be expected with the Skarsgård family. Its darkness may be a tough sell but if you’re interested in a unique approach to the overdone serial killer story, What Remains may be for you.