Netflix's new Swedish crime drama The Breakthrough has been an instant hit with viewers. In the first week of its release (on January 7) the show has already broken through the top 10 most-watched shows, no doubt owing to the horrific, gripping story centred on the murder of a woman and a child.
The limited series unfolds into a story about eight-year-old Adnan (Marley Norstad) and 56-year-old Gunilla (Anna Azcárate) who were killed in broad daylight in 2004, in Linköping, Sweden.
Despite efforts to find and bring their killer to justice, investigators hit dead ends and the case was left unsolved for 16 years. That was until genealogist Per (Mattias Nordkvist) was able to shed enough light to help unmask the murderer.
The emotionally wrought watch has had viewers wondering whether or not this double homicide and the events that followed were based on a real-life story.
The opening card does state that "on Tuesday 19th October 2004 a murder investigation began. It would become the second largest criminal investigation in Swedish history," but was this just a perfectly chilling set up for a drama or facts? Here's what we know.
Is Netflix's The Breakthrough a true story?
It is indeed. According to Netflix's Tudum, the true-crime drama is "a fictional account based on the 2004 double homicide of Mohammed Ammouri and Anna-Lena Svensson.
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"The murders were unsolved for 16 years, until ancestral DNA genealogy led to a break in the case."
Tudum went on to further clarify that Netflix's retelling of the events derived from the book of the same name written by a journalist named Anna Bodin and the genealogist in the case, Peter Sjölund.
The Breakthrough screenwriter Oskar Söderlund said: "When I read the book The Breakthrough, I was struck by the fact that there was such strong human destinies behind this massive murder investigation: police officers who refused to give up, relatives who wanted answers and last but not least the genealogist who finally came up with the solution.
"In the midst of this tragedy, there are people who are struggling to move on and whose whole life is marked by what happened."
The Breakthrough is available to stream now on Netflix.
TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
