German Crime Story: Deadlock (2023) User Reviews

Suprisingly good

[florijanh · 9/10 · 22 January 2023]

A very good cast and a beautiful scenery, they really achieved to create this 80/90s immersion.

As a german, i would say the main story and the small side plots are pretty coherent and authentic, even though it's showing the worst side of 90s germany. The cruel mixture of absurd happy facade, with one man like "Raik" could go very far or even away was very good depicted.

It's difficult to judge if it is legit to allow airing such a show where all the details of the sufferer are exposed in maybe an overdramatized way, nonetheless, from cinematic point of view and as some kind of german production, it is quite a good work.

Not bad, but what is the point?

[Lukasmj · 7/10 · 3 August 2023]

"German Crime Story: Deadlock" tells a story that is very close to that of the "acid barrel murderer" or with the real name "Lutz Reinstrom", who in the 80s in Hamburg-Rahlstedt in his bunker under his house, cruelly tortured women, killed them, threw their remains into a barrel of hydrochloric acid, and then buried it deep in the earth before filling the hole with cement.

Although this series is based on the Lutz Reinstrom case, it is not a detailed retelling of the events. The names of the perpetrator and his victims have also been changed here. That's why Lutz Reinstrom bears the name "Raik Doorman" here.

I just don't understand why they felt it was necessary when the core story is 1:1 the same anyway.

A lot was written around it, but basically the series tells the story of Lutz Reinstrom - so why change the names?

In terms of acting, two actors stand out particularly positively.

On the one hand, there is Oliver Masucci, who embodies the main character Raik Doormann, and on the other hand, Nikola Kastner, who embodies Cornelia Kessler - one of Raik's victims.

I didn't like the end of the series at all, which felt very odd.

In general you can say the series has a high level of production, but I just don't find a reason for this series to exist. Why does this series exist? What should it say?

For example, let's take another true crime series that probably also acted as a motivation for this series - DAHMER. As the name suggests, "DAHMER" told the story of Jeffrey Dahmer, who was one of the most horrific serial killers in the United States.

But "DAHMER" had a moral and a message. Using the extreme example of Jeffrey Dahmer, the series has shown what too little love and attention in childhood can do to a person's later life. Dahmer didn't get much love from his parents and so he got it from other people out of necessity, but then he didn't want to let them go anymore and killed them so that they "stay with him". Jeffrey Dahmer was a cruel but also sad and sick man.

In contrast, Lutz Reinstrom or Raik Doorman, as he is called here, is not a person who is somehow mentally ill and through this series gives the viewer an insight into his head - no, Lutz Reinstrom is just a selfish asshole who doesn't care about the people around him at all. A processing of his actions simply has no added value.

At least the show does a good job of portraying the sexism and degradation of women in the 80's...

True Crime Next Level

[goodfilms69 · 9/10 · 3 February 2023]

This German True Crime Show is on top of Storytelling and making. After you watched this Show you are sick of men like Trump, Weinstein and others.

The anthology series shows how toxic masculinity was anchored in the system and life in Germany in the 80s and 90s. Modern, exciting and intensely told, the show is in no way inferior to series like Dahmer. For some people it might be to strong. But the Horror is in your mind, there is not to much blood in it. But the charakters are rich and deep.

Raik Dormann's voice is strange at first. That's because the killer's voice was like that. Also tied up is a struggle for the truth. Which narrative is believed. Raik Dormann is a storyteller that people like to believe. As up-to-date as rarely a show. Watch it.