Netflix released the trailer for its upcoming true crime documentary on Friday Into the deep, which will be released by the streamer next week, nearly three years after a work-in-progress edit premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. The project started as a chronicle of an eccentric Danish inventor Peter Madsen‘s life and work, but took a more sinister turn when Madsen was suspected of murdering a Swedish journalist, convicted and subsequently imprisoned.
Incriminating shots by the director Emma Sullivan for her documentary was investigated and used by prosecutors in her case against Madsen, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2018. Madsen was something of a celebrity in Denmark, known for building three submarines. Next he planned to build a space rocket. The film was originally intended to chronicle the larger-than-life Madsen’s recent endeavor, which he worked on with science students who were intrigued by his personality.
Into the deep will also examine the betrayal the students felt after it was revealed that Madsen had systematically planned and carried out the journalist’s assassination, kim wall. Sullivan actually filmed footage of Madsen guiding Wall onto one of his submarines, which turned out to be the last time she was seen alive. Sullivan said:
“It’s a very personal story for me. When I started this project, I met a group of people who wanted to be part of something positive, led by someone they admired. But then the unbearable happened. If you suddenly get sucked into such a nightmare, it will change your life forever. The film is a testament to the people who were close to Madsen as they slowly come to understand the man’s true nature and the horrific crimes he committed.”
Some clips teased in the trailer are quite noticeable; Sullivan essentially documented how Madsen’s student assistants realized in real time that their mentor might have been involved in a murder. “The Peter I’ve known for 10 years and the Peter who got in and out of the submarine on August 10 are two different people,” says one man.
The case was previously dramatized in the six-part Danish series The investigationdirected by Tobias Lindholmwho is perhaps best known for his collaboration with the director Thomas Winterberg. Fans of the true crime genre may also be reminded of the seminal HBO series The Jinxin which the subject — real estate inheritance Robert Durst – apparently confessed to killing a woman while he was being filmed. As Into the deep, The Jinx also contributed to the charge against his subject.
Into the deep will be released on Netflix on September 30th. You can watch the trailer here and read the official synopsis of the film below:
Filmmaker Emma Sullivan wanted to portray eccentric inventor Peter Madsen and his homemade rocket for a documentary. Instead, she captures incriminating footage that helped get him convicted of the murder of journalist Kim Wall.
Lucas Smiter 