The Treatment

Nordic noir turns frighteningly Flemish in this harrowing gut-wrencher based on the thriller by British author Mo Hayder, expertly relocated to Belgium. Haunted by the unsolved disappearance of his younger brother in childhood, for which a known sex offender was released due to insufficient evidence, Inspector Nick Cafmeyer (Geert Van Rampelberg) - DI Jack Caffery in Hayder's novels - faces further anguish investigating a similar case that involves another missing juvenile. Make no mistake, the intense nature of the crimes concerned proves disturbing (which delayed the certification and release of this sizeable Euro-hit in the UK). But director Hans Herbots approaches the devastating and emotionally jarring issues in the gritty story with sensitivity, not softening any of the horrific elements to lay bare the darkest sides of humanity. The final reveal is quite something, too, in what is a bleak, uncompromising look into the brutal death of innocence.