Veronika (TV series)

Veronika is a 2024 Swedish psychological thriller, crime drama television series, which was developed by Viaplay. It was streamed on Viaplay's Australian partners SBS On Demand from 1 March 2024 and across Europe on SkyShowtime from 24 March. Veronika had been due for streaming in Scandinavia from late 2023 but was delayed due to downsizing by Viaplay. The eight-episode series was created by Katja Juras and Anna Lindblom, who also co-wrote its screenplay. Veronika was directed by Jonas Alexander Arnby. The titular protagonist Veronika, portrayed by Alexandra Rapaport, is a small town policewoman, who has a pill addiction which suppresses her psychic visions. Her husband Tomas (Tobias Santelmann) is the local music teacher and primary carer for their children Liv (Sarah Rhodin) and Simon (Eddie Eriksson Dominguez). When Veronika sees the dead boy Oskar's image, she begins to doubt her sanity. She finds a young woman, Hanna's corpse and assists in the associated murder investigation led by police detective Nassir (Arvin Kananian).

Premise
Action is set in a fictitious central Swedish mining town of Älvsbruk, c. 2022. Policewoman Veronika has psychic visions but has suppressed them since childhood by taking prescription pills. Periodically her visions have provoked nightmares and traumatic breakdowns. When Veronika sees a dead boy, Oskar, in a river she believes its a hallucination. Her long-suffering husband, Tomas is frustrated by her apparent indifference to their family's problems with their son, Simon's attention-seeking behaviour and teenage daughter, Liv's misbehaviour when her swimming aspirations are thwarted. Veronika discovers Hanna's corpse and sees the young woman in a vision. Police detective Nassir works with Veronika on Hanna's murder case. Initially they consider popular ice hockey champion Alexander as their suspect. Alexander is arrested when his alibi proves falsified by his team and coach. Veronika begins to doubts Alexander's guilt when she has visions of another murdered young woman, Josefin. Josefin's case was closed earlier as a pedophile confessed to her murder. Veronika finds Hanna wore a butterfly necklace and kept a diary, which mentions another man, "T".

After being hypnotised, Veronika better remembers her father, Bengt, including his death. She tracks down her child psychologist who admits to being bribed by Veronika's mother, Ann-Charlotte to sedate her. Veronika's visions sharpen when she stops taking pills. She has a vision of Oskar losing his gumboot in the forest near Hanna's corpse location. After learning Josefin also wore a butterfly necklace, Veronika aligns the deaths of Oskar, Hanna and Josefin. They had occurred during the times that Veronika was hospitalised for her breakdowns. Ann-Charlotte and Tomas are worried that Veronika is heading toward another breakdown by delving into her past. Tomas confronts Veronika when he finds her unprofessional investigations at home. She explains having her psychic visions. Despite professing that he believes her, Tomas calls the hospital for assistance. Veronika drives off distraught, has another vision of Josefin and crashes into a tree. Suspecting attempted suicide, Veronika is committed to the psychiatric ward and sedated by hospital staff. She convinces Nassir to recover her material and to follow up on Oskar's gumboot, Hanna and Josefin's necklaces and Hanna's diary.

Main cast

 * Alexandra Rapaport as Veronika Gren ( Löef): Tomas's wife, uniform policewoman, has psychic visions but suppresses them via insomnia pills
 * Tobias Santelmann as Tomas: Veronika's husband, their children's primary carer, music teacher
 * Arvin Kananian as Nassir Hakim: newly transferred police detective, investigates Hanna's murder
 * Sarah Rhodin as Liv: Veronika and Tomas's teenage daughter, swim team aspirant
 * Eddie Eriksson Dominguez as Simon: Veronika and Tomas's son, has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Additional cast

 * Per Graffman as Martin: Oskar's father, Ivar's son, swimming coach
 * Anders Mossling as Göran: police chief, Veronika and Nassir's boss
 * Emelie Garbers as Katrin: Martin's wife, Oskar's mother, senses that Veronika knows about Oskar
 * Olle Sarri as Tommy Sand: Sara's drunken abusive husband, Agnes's father, sometime welder
 * Adrian Macéus as Jack: Liv's contemporary, swim team member
 * Chatarina Larsson as Ann-Charlotte: Veronika's mother, Bengt's widow, bribed child psychologist to sedate Veronika
 * Thea Gotensjö as Hanna Hagman: 16-year-old murder victim, disappeared in October 2017. Owned a butterfly necklace
 * Ralf Beck as Klas: uniform policeman, Veronika's colleague
 * Elvira Björkman as Agnes: Tommy and Sara's daughter, Liv's contemporary, swim team member
 * Isabelle Aronsson as Unga Veronika (English: Young Veronika): 6-year-old child, Bengt and Ann-Charlotte's daughter
 * Sam Herrgård as Oskar Lidman: 9-year-old child, drowned in October 2017
 * Freddie Mosten-Jacob as Julia: Josefin's friend, horse stable worker for Anita
 * Karin Bertling as Ninni: Veronika's aunt, aged care resident, has memory lapses
 * Isac Calmroth as Alexander Östberg: ice hockey player, Hanna's clandestine lover
 * Oldoz Javidi as Susanne Kilström: psychotherapist, treats Tomas and Veronika
 * Arvid Sand as Love Gran: library assistant, claims to be Hanna's best friend
 * Marcus von Plenker-Tind as Bengt Löef: Veronkia's father, miner, supposed accidental death in 1984, Veronika was six
 * Ellen Helinder as Bonnie: restaurant-bar attendant
 * Elisabeth Wernesjö as Lotta: policewoman, partnered with Rasmus
 * Alexander Salzberger as Dan: Simon's teacher
 * Wilma Lidén as Josefin Forss: Anita's 14-year-old daughter, horse rider, murder victim, died in March 2019; Niklas convicted. Owned a butterfly necklace
 * Joel Ödmann as Rasmus: policeman, partnered with Lotta
 * Moses Ternedal as Leo: Liv's contemporary, swim team member
 * Mille Bostedt as Sofia: uniform policewoman
 * Alexandra Alegren as Sandra: Hanna's mother
 * Sandra Herlog as Sara: Tommy's wife, domestic violence victim
 * Louise Ryme as Anita Forss: Josefin's mother, owns horses
 * Sanna Ekman as Marie: aged care attendant
 * Sten Ljunggren as Ivar: Martin and Monica's father, former factory owner, Bengt's boss, aged care resident
 * Molly Persson as Molly: Liv's friend
 * Hannes Meidal as Niklas Borsén: convicted pedophile of pre-teen victims, convicted of Josefin's murder
 * Matilda Tjerneld as Unga Ann-Charlotte (English: Young Ann-Charlotte): Veroonika's mother
 * Malin Alm as Inger: Simon's school principal, Dan's boss
 * Baxter Renman as Petter: Simon's contemporary, school student

Production
Viaplay Group's Filippa Wallestam announced the production of Veronika in September 2022 with its streaming proposed for late 2023 by Viaplay. The series was created by Katja Juras and Anna Lindblom (Gåsmamman [2015]), who also co-wrote the screenplay. Veronika is directed by Jonas Alexander Arnby (War of the Worlds [2019]). Filming occurred in Dannemora, Gimo, Österbybruk and Gysinge. Its titular leading actress Alexandra Rapaport had been attracted to the project five years earlier, "It's a great script with a tone all of its own". It was streamed on Viaplay's Australian partners, SBS On Demand from 1 March 2024. Due to Viaplay's downsizing during mid-2023 the project was acquired by SkyShowtime, which streamed the eight-episode series across Europe from 24 March 2024. Rapaport is an executive producer of Veronika alongside Calle Jansson and Mathias Gruffman.