The Keeper of Lost Causes

The Keeper of Lost Causes (Danish: Kvinden i buret), also known as Department Q: The Keeper of Lost Causes, is a 2013 Danish film directed by Mikkel Nørgaard. The movie is based on the novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen. It is the first film in the Department Q film series, followed by The Absent One (2014) and A Conspiracy of Faith (2016).

The Keeper of Lost Causes
Theatrical release poster
Danish	Kvinden i buret
Directed by	Mikkel Nørgaard
Screenplay by	Nikolaj Arcel
Based on	Kvinden i buret by Jussi Adler-Olsen
Produced by	Peter Aalbæk Jensen Louise Vesth
Starring	Nikolaj Lie Kaas Fares Fares Sonja Richter Søren Pilmark
Cinematography	Eric Kress
Edited by	Morten Egholm Martin Schade
Music by	Patrik Andren Uno Helmersson Johan Soderqvist
Distributed by	Nordisk Film
Release dates	31 January 2013 (2013-01-31) (GIFF) 3 October 2013 (2013-10-03) (Denmark)
Country	Denmark
Language	Danish

Synopsis

Carl Mørck is demoted to Department Q, the cold case unit, after a raid he instigated goes wrong. One case, a suspected suicide, piques his interest. His investigations suggest that the victim, a rising politician named Merete Lynnggard, was actually kidnapped. Mørck ruffles feathers and is told to halt the investigation, but he and his assistant Assad persist.

As the duo investigate the case further, they get into trouble with Swedish police and are suspended, but they continue their investigation. Lynnggard is revealed to be imprisoned in a pressure chamber by a vengeful chef named Lasse. When Lynnggard and Lasse were children, Lynnggard playfully blindfolded her father as he was driving, causing a deadly car crash that killed both of her parents as well as Lasse's father and younger sister. The confinement and torture of Lynnggard is Lasse's revenge.

Carl and Assad locate the pressure chamber and rescue Lynnggard as she is about to die, and they arrest Lasse. Because of their action and the prominence of the case, the police chief reinstates the duo as detectives.

Cast and characters

• Nikolaj Lie Kaas as Carl Mørck
• Fares Fares as Assad
• Sonja Richter as Merete Lynggaard
• Mikkel Følsgaard as Uffe Lynggaard
• Søren Pilmark as Marcus Jacobsen
• Troels Lyby as Hardy Henningsen
• Patricia Schumann as Søs Norup
• Eric Ericson as Johan Lundquist

Release

The film was first shown at the Gothenburg Film Festival in January 2013, followed by several more film festivals before its cinema release in Denmark on 3 October 2013.^[1] The film topped the local box office in 2013 with 725,000 Danish moviegoers buying tickets.^[2]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 71% of 28 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.9/10.^[3]