Entertainment
Netflix’s Forgotten Bill Skarsgård Crime Miniseries Is the Perfect 6-Episode Weekend Binge
One of the greatest perks of the streaming era is the sheer volume of content available at any given moment. But that abundance comes with a downside: with so much content to watch, even genuinely strong series can slip through the cracks. Launched with far less fanfare than Netflix’s splashier crime hits in 2022, the six-episode Swedish miniseries Clark quietly became one of the platform’s most entertaining and unconventional explorations of criminal psychology, anchored by a performance from Bill Skarsgård that deserved far more attention than it received. Critics responded warmly, earning the series an impressive 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. If you’re looking for something stylistic, darkly funny, and short enough to finish over a weekend, Clark is an easy recommendation.
What Is ‘Clark’ About?
Clark tells the wildly exaggerated, semi-fictionalized story of Clark Olofsson (Skarsgård), a career criminal whose good looks and undeniable charisma made Sweden fall in love with him in the 1970s, despite a rap sheet that included robbery, drug trafficking, jailbreaks, and attempted murder. Olofsson famously participated in the 1973 Norrmalmstorg robbery, a hostage crisis that helped inspire the term “Stockholm syndrome.” Created by Jonas Åkerlund, the series traces Clark’s life from his troubled childhood to his evolution into a serial bank robber, media sensation, and unlikely cultural icon in Sweden.
Rather than presenting a straightforward crime drama, the show leans into Clark’s unreliable narration loosely inspired by Olofsson’s autobiography. Skarsgård frequently breaks the fourth wall, glamorizing his exploits and reframing failures as triumphs. The tone shifts rapidly, blending outrageous visuals with a bold soundtrack that heightens the absurdity of Clark’s self-mythologizing. Flashbacks dig into his formative years, offering context for how he became the criminal he did, giving the series a swaggering energy reminiscent of Goodfellas or Catch Me If You Can.
But while the robberies and jailbreaks drive the plot, the real focus is Clark’s insatiable need for admiration and control. Beneath its chaotic, stylized exterior, Clark is less concerned with the mechanics of crime and more interested in how criminals become celebrities — and how easily media attention can warp reality. By allowing viewers to see the cracks in Clark’s carefully constructed legend, the series takes on a far more character-driven approach. That shift not only makes it endlessly bingeable, but also gives Skarsgård the space to deliver one of the most compelling performances of his career.
‘Clark’ Trailer Reveals Bill Skarsgård as a Notorious Swedish Criminal
Bill Skarsgård plays notorious Swedish criminal Clark Olofsson, the man who was at the origin of the term “Stockholm Syndrome.”
Bill Skarsgård Is Magnetic and Unrecognizable in ‘Clark’
Bill Skarsgård is the kind of actor who can truly disappear into a role. Audiences most likely associate him with his chilling turn as Pennywise in the IT films or, more recently, as Count Orlok in Nosferatu. But Clark gives him the space to showcase an entirely different side of his range. Here, he’s all charm, bravado, and reckless magnetism. With shaggy ’70s hair and an exaggerated swagger, Skarsgård fully commits to Clark’s narcissism while allowing flickers of insecurity to break through.
What makes the performance so compelling is its duality. Clark is charming, manipulative, and often outright appalling, yet Skarsgård makes him impossible to look away from. He understands that the character’s appeal lies in contradiction, as Clark sees himself as a hero even as he spirals deeper into criminality. In quieter moments, when the bravado finally cracks, Skarsgård lets vulnerability seep through, hinting at a man who was never given a choice to be anything but a criminal.
The show’s stylized direction gives Skarsgård room to go big, and it’s easy to tell he’s having fun with those moments. But even at his most theatrical, he never loses control of the character. Even as the editing turns frantic or the tone veers into dark comedy, he anchors the series with a performance that ranks among his best work and remains far more unknown than it should be. It’s one of his most versatile turns to date, proving he’s far more than a horror icon and more than capable of carrying an entire series by sheer presence. In a streaming landscape crowded with formulaic crime content, Clark stands out as something riskier and more playful. Anchored by Skarsgård’s fearless performance and Jonas Åkerlund’s kinetic direction, it’s a reminder that the most fascinating crime stories aren’t always about the heist.
All six episodes of Clark are available to stream on Netflix.
- Release Date
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2022 – 2022-00-00
- Network
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Netflix
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Bill Skarsgård
Clark Olofsson
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Kolbjörn Skarsgård
Young Clark
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Lukas Wetterberg
Teen Clark
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Vilhelm Blomgren
Tommy Lindström
