Deliver Me – Netflix Series Review

DELIVER ME on Netflix is a Swedish Crime-Drama mini-series (org. title: I dina händer). It’s brutal and heartbreaking. With just five episodes, it’s a quick watch that hits hard. Read our full Deliver Me series review here!

DELIVER ME is a new Netflix mini-series from Sweden (org. title: I dina händer). The story is, however, very universal and illustrates how countries all over the world are having the same issues. Young kids get involved with gangs, drugs, and violence, which leads to someone ending up dead.

This series has just five episodes and the story is simple, but the truth isn’t, which is what becomes key to have it all evolve. Brutal, heartbreaking, and important. We’ve watched the entire mini-series for the purpose of writing this review. Also, because it was good.

Continue reading our Deliver Me series review below. Find it on Netflix from April 24, 2024.

When society fails

In this Swedish Crime-Drama mini-series with the original title of I dina händer (which translates to “In your hands”) we meet two young boys who are best friends.

Sadly, the story also begins with one of these fourteen-year-old boys lying face down in the snow. Bleeding from several gunshot wounds. As he lies there, in front of a playground where he was playing just a few years earlier, his best friend stands nearby with a warm gun in his trembling hand.

In Deliver Me, we get the story of what happens when the power of childhood friendship is confronted with brutal choices. It also shows us what happens when a society fails to protect its kids. The two best friends spend a lot of time in a very rough neighborhood.

Tough guys are in gangs and drugs as well as weapons are not uncommon.

The question in Deliver Me quickly becomes this: When children commit horrible crimes, who bears responsibility? Can a child be a monster, and if so, how does that happen? How can we, as a society, allow it to happen?!

When kids grow up too fast

While it can be easy to blame adults, it really is a much larger problem. The friend who is shot has a loving family that spends time together. They are immigrants and don’t have much money, but they make up for that in love and attention.

The boy who shoots comes from a home with more wealth but much less love and attention. In fact, he would surely trade in all the money for just an ounce of what his friend has. And that’s why they also spend a lot more time in his neighborhood, which is where the warm and happy family lives.

Unfortunately, this is also where gangs and violence run rampant. As young boys, they look to the gang members as cool older boys. So, when they are invited to take part in gang activities, they are too fast to accept.

However, they are not ready for how quickly it will all escalate. And they’re about to learn that you can’t just leave this “line of work” again.

The two newcomers Yasir Hassan and Olle Strand star as the two best friends and fourteen-year-old boys Billy/Bilal and Dogge/Douglas. They deliver strong and believable performances, which only makes it all much more heartbreaking.

You may recognize a few of the actors in this series. First, there’s Ardalan Esmaili who was in the Danish Netflix movie A Beautiful Life. Also, I have to mention Yusra Warsama, who plays the mother of Billy in Deliver Me. She played Dr. Nadia in the Hulu series Castle Rock.

Watch Deliver Me on Netflix!

Deliver Me was directed by Anna Zackrisson (Snow Angels) and it was supposed to be the screenwriting debut of the award-winning author Malin Persson Giolito. She wrote the novel this was adapted from, just as her previous book was made into the Netflix series Quicksand.

Malin Persson Giolito worked alongside head writer Alex Haridi (Love & Anarchy) and episode writer Amanda Högberg. However, in March 2024, just a short month before the series’ release on Netflix, she decided to have her name taken off the production due to artistic disagreements.

Still, the series does reunite the producer/author team behind Quicksand; producer duo Frida Asp and Fatima Varhos – through their newly formed production company Asp Varhos – so there is a direct connection to the first series adapted from one of Malin Persson Giolito’s books.

Deliver Me (org. title: I dina händer) premieres on Netflix on April 24, 2024.

Details

Director: Anna Zackrisson
Writers: Alex Haridi (head writer) & Amanda Högberg
Cast: Yasir Hassan, Olle Strand, Ardalan Esmaili, Yusra Warsama, Mahmut Savakci, Ane Dahl Torp