Season 1
6 episodes Sep 29, 2021 7.6
A figurine made of chestnuts is found at the scene of a grisly murder; from this creepy clue, two detectives hunt for a killer linked to a politician's missing child.
The Chestnut Man
“If you find one, he's already found you.”
2021–2026
Ended • 2 Seasons • 12 Episodes
Overview
At a grisly murder scene sits a figurine made of chestnuts. From this creepy clue, two detectives hunt a killer linked to a politician's missing child.
Seasons
2 listed- Status
- Ended
- Seasons
- 2 seasons
- Episodes
- 12 episodes
- First aired
- Sep 29, 2021
- Last aired
- May 7, 2026
- Network
- Netflix
Latest episode: S2 E6 Episode 6 (May 7, 2026)
Hide and Seek
6 episodes May 7, 2026 7.3Detective Hess and Thulin reunite as they race against time to catch a perpetrator playing a disturbing game of hide and seek in the gloomy mists of Copenhagen's suburbs. As more victims are drawn into the deadly game and the body count rises, the duo must stop the killer before more lives are lost.
Cast
7 people
Reviews
5 min readThe Chestnut Man: How a Child’s Craft Became a Killer’s Calling Card
I kept thinking about those little figures. Not the bodies—though there are plenty of those, sprawled in the wet leaves of Copenhagen’s suburbs, their wounds as precise as the cuts of a surgeon who’s long since stopped caring. No, it’s the chestnut men that linger.
Tiny, lopsided things, stitched together with matchsticks, their blank faces staring up from crime scene photos like silent witnesses. In Denmark, children make them every autumn. A harmless tradition, a way to pass the time between school and supper.
But here, in The Chestnut Man, they’re something else: a signature, a taunt, a promise that the worst is always just around the corner.
That’s the trick of this series, isn’t it? It takes something familiar—autumn leaves, a detective duo, a missing child—and twists it into something that feels both inevitable and impossible. The first episode drops you into the middle of a nightmare: a young girl, barely alive, found in a playground with one of those damn chestnut men tucked into her pocket.
By the time the credits roll, you’re hooked, not because the mystery is particularly original (it isn’t), but because the show understands something fundamental about fear. It’s not the unknown that terrifies us. It’s the known, corrupted.
The detectives assigned to the case are Naia Thulin (Danica Ćurčić) and Mark Hess (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard), a pair as mismatched as the chestnut men’s crooked limbs. Thulin is all sharp edges and ambition, a woman who’s spent her career proving she belongs in a room full of men who’d rather she didn’t. Hess is the outsider, a former Europol agent dragged back to Copenhagen after a personal tragedy, his posture slumped like a man who’s already given up but doesn’t know how to stop.
Their chemistry is the show’s secret weapon. They bicker, they snap, they circle each other like boxers who’ve forgotten why they started fighting in the first place. But when the case tightens its grip, they move in sync, two halves of a brain that’s finally starting to work.
Audience Opinions
Audience 7.6/10
"A grim, atmospheric Nordic noir whose gripping mystery and strong leads outweigh a brutal tone and a slightly excessive finale."
The series earns praise for its dark Scandinavian ambience, creepy mood, and tightly plotted six-episode mystery with surprising twists and layered family drama. Performances from the lead detectives are widely regarded as compelling, and the investigation is seen as engaging and bingeable. latestnetflix.com's view is that Some viewers find the violence and child-related themes too harsh and feel the ending tips into over-the-top territory or becomes predictable once the clues line up.
What viewers praise
- Engrossing dark atmosphere Moody autumn visuals, bleak locations, and a constant sense of dread create a distinctive Nordic noir feel.
- Compelling lead characters The central detectives are portrayed as flawed but engaging, with acting that grounds the story emotionally.
- Twisty, complex mystery The plot layers red herrings, family secrets, and escalating crimes in a way that keeps the whodunnit engaging.
- Bingeable six-episode run The story is seen as tightly told, with minimal filler and enough momentum to finish in one or two sittings.
- Fresh non-US crime vibe The Danish setting and style provide a welcome change of pace from more familiar American crime shows.
Common complaints
- Very grim and grisly Graphic murders and a heavy focus on child victims feel overly disturbing or exhausting for some viewers.
- Finale feels exaggerated The climax is viewed by some as too over-the-top compared with the grounded build-up.
- Killer reveal partly expected Certain viewers manage to identify the culprit early, softening the impact of the final twist.
Recommended for
Nordic noir devotees Dark serial killer mystery fans Scandi crime drama watchers Short bingeable thriller seekers Atmospheric slow-burn lovers
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsSarah Lund walked back into Copenhagen. The chestnuts were already waiting.
Sofie Gråbøl spent a decade as Sarah Lund, the jumper, the rain, the case that would not close. In May 2026 Netflix put her in The Chestnut Man as Marie Holst, a mother whose daughter's unsolved murder sits under a new Copenhagen stalker. Danica Curcic and Mikkel Boe Følsgaard are back as Thulin and Hess. Five years after six Danish episodes made English Twitter call the show brilliant and creepy, Hide and Seek is six more, from Søren Sveistrup's sequel novel. latestnetflix.com's read is that the first season's figurines are not the point this time.A nursery-rhyme counting song is. 
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Netflix announced Kastanjemanden at the Copenhagen TV Festival in August 2019 as its second Danish original, after Ragnarok. Sveistrup created The Killing. His debut novel had already gone into 28 languages. SAM Productions shot in Copenhagen. Curcic's Naia Thulin wants a quieter desk so she can see her daughter. Følsgaard's Mark Hess is a Europol investigator dumped on her. Iben Dorner plays Social Affairs minister Rosa Hartung, back at work after her girl Kristine vanished. David Dencik is the forensics tech everyone liked. The six episodes dropped worldwide on September 29, 2021. Netflix's own teaser had already done the line. If you find one, he has already found you. , ,
The Independent caught the first English-language wave. Viewers called it a dark slow burn that would go under the radar. Rotten Tomatoes sat at 100 percent on a tiny critic sample. Norwegian paper Verdens Gang called it a perfected cliche and still gave it four out of six. That is Nordic noir talking to itself. The playground body, the missing hand, the chestnut doll with a missing child's print. People still argue about the forensics twist years later. That is the gossip. Not another walk through the farmhouse in 1987. ,
Hide and Seek waited five years. Then it charted.
Season 2 is a new case. A 41-year-old woman is reported missing. Her phone is full of a stalker's pictures and a counting song. When she turns up dead, the file folds into a 17-year-old's unsolved murder from two years earlier. Gråbøl's Marie Holst is that mother, still waiting on a court that closed the old case. Katinka Lærke Petersen joins. Dorte W. Høgh and Emilie Lebech Kaae wrote. Milad Alami and Roni Ezra split the six episodes. Decider streamed it and kept the partnership as the reason to stay. Hess is home because his brother is in a coma. Thulin still cannot clock out. , ,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE0jZnMuAQE
ScreenRant, citing FlixPatrol, had the return at sixth worldwide a few days in, number one in Denmark and a handful of neighbors, trending in 46 countries. Five years is a long pause for a Netflix original. Sveistrup still owns the books. Curcic and Følsgaard still own the pairing. Gråbøl walking into Sveistrup's other Copenhagen is the casting joke Danish television had been waiting to tell. The 2021 trailer still does the figurine in the playground. Invite him in and you already know the rest. ,
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.