Dawn. False.

Art forgery. Gambling debts. Life at stake.

Nea has surrendered her dreams of becoming an artist and now teaches at the University of Arts in Stockholm. She has two children with a man who held onto his own dreams, but whose irregular work as a musician is no guarantee of a steady income. One day, Nea is called in to help the police determine whether a painting by Russian artist Ivan Botkin is fake or not. There she encounters Roger Forsén, a detective who isn’t as certain as Nea that the painting is genuine. 

When Nea finds her husband Johan badly beaten in their apartment – a chilling message from the owner of the illegal gambling club where Johan owes a lot of money – things take a turn for the worse, and Nea stands to lose everything. Nea confides in her brilliant student Nadezhda, and it turns out that Nadezhda can offer a solution to the problem: she reveals that it was her who forged the Botkin painting – but evil forces are trying to take advantage of her.

This is Scandi Noir as you’ve never seen it before, with a thrilling intrigue that brings stories like Lupin to mind. The focus is firmly on two strong women, who gradually find their moral boundaries being stretched to the limit.