Which truth do you want to hear?

The sombre psychological drama, shot in Finland and set in Sweden, co-written by Chinese debut director Ran Huang reunites swiftly rising son Gustaf and celebrated father Stellan for only the second Skarsgård showdown in feature films in 19 years.

Traumatised in childhood, the fragile Mads is tortured by his conscience. Long days in a mental clinic are almost over, but he escapes recurring memories with psychotropic pleasures. Mads may have done something terrible and there are murmurs of the mysterious disappearance of Carlos 15 years ago in 1977. He blames paedophilic parents for suspicions of molesting nine boys.

Rejected by his daughter, lonely detective Soren was unable to solve the case and still stalks the unattainable truth. Suffering from deteriorating health, psychotherapist Anna (Oscar nominee Andrea Riseborough for “To Leslie”) is so far the only one to gain tormented Mads’ trust. She tries to get him to confess. But manipulative Mads doesn’t remember any details or just pretends to be a victim.

Mutual mistrust, false suspicions, newly excavated bodies, recurring hatred, and torturous treatments lead morally condemned patient Mads, diligent medic Anna, and wasted policeman Soren to dangerous paths. We get only hints of seemingly true facts regarding the double identity of a ruthless serial killer, and never investigated or proven countless crimes, but Ran Huang has no intention of searching for missing evidence.

Edvinas Pukšta