What is the price of freedom?

After the nightmarish experience of working at the world-famous restaurant NORD, Alex and Sofi have started afresh. Trying to forget NORD’s owner Alice’s threats, they have opened a bistro of their own on the island of Öland in southern Sweden. But despite the fantastic geography and easy access to local ingredients, it soon becomes clear that managing your own restaurant is hard work. Not least when secrets that threaten to destroy everything are uncovered.

Alex is also unable to let go of his fear that Alice will come out of the woodwork to exact her revenge. Is it just paranoia, or is there truly reason to worry?

Syd is the stand-alone second installment in the series about the chef Alex, a unique psychological thriller in a restaurant setting, celebrated by readers and critics alike. How far would you be willing to go to be free of your past?

Filmlance International has acquired the adaptation rights to Katarina Ekstedt and Anna Winberg Sääf’s psychological thriller NORD, to turn it into a drama series, produced by Karl Fredrik Ulfung and Tomas Michaelsson. Award-winning screenwriter Johanne Algren (Holiday, Kamikaze, Copenhagen Cowboys) will write the script.

NORD is a captivating psychological thriller that delves into the dark underbelly of the fine dining scene. After a fateful teenage accident, Alex finds himself alone, unemployed and with his self-esteem at rock bottom. When he receives an offer that seems too good to be true, he doesn’t hesitate for a second. It’s a coveted job as Commis de Cuisine, kitchen assistant, at the world-famous star restaurant NORD in Åre. But it’s not long before the work in the restaurant kitchen is replaced by a web of lies, sex and threats.

“Developing the NORD universe with its complex characters into a high quality and exciting TV series is a fantastic opportunity. And to be able to do it in a restaurant environment where fabulous food will be cooked during the filming means that we will put on a few kilos. Together with scriptwriter Johanne Algren, we are convinced that we can create an international success that will keep viewers on their toes,” said Karl Fredrik Ulfung and Tomas Michaelsson, producers at Filmlance.

Having been involved in a fatal accident in his teens, Alex has ended up alone, unemployed and with his self-esteem at rock bottom. When he receives a job offer that seems too good to be true, he doesn’t hesitate for a second. It is a coveted position as Commis de Cuisine, kitchen assistant, at the world-renowned Micheline-starred restaurant NORD in the Swedish Jämtland mountains.

The job is painstakingly tough, and soon further made complicated by Alex falling for the electrifying owner, Alice Duwal, who’s considerably older than Alex and also married. It doesn’t take long before Alex realizes that everything is not what it seems. Alice appears to harbour many secrets, and Alex is drawn into a tangle of lies, sex and threats that seems utterly impossible to escape.

Where do you turn for help when your past refuses to let you go?

Nord is a captivating psychological thriller that delves into the dark underbelly of the fine dining scene. It is the first installment in a diptych exploring power abuse, vulnerability, and exploitation.