Let’s spend some time in Finland during its warmer part of the year when it’s not buried under a thick blanket of snow, for a four-part dramatic miniseries, “The Girl Who Disappeared”. An insurance investigator named Aaro (Johannes Holopainen) meets an attractive woman (Saga Sarkola) who only tells him her first name, as she remains very coy about whether she’s interested in any further acquaintance.
In the first episode, they start spending time together, including some island hopping on his boat. She’s being secretive, but her anxiousness about possibly being followed by someone is more apparent to us than to her smitten suitor. While they’re camping on one of Finland’s zillion, or so, pristine islands, she vanishes without explanation.
Aaro uses his professional resources to find her. He soon learns that the name and employment she mentioned were fictitious. In the second episode we start getting the backstory of how that woman, whose real name is Maura, wound up living under a false identity, constantly looking over her shoulder for something yet to be disclosed to the viewers.
As the story progresses, we find ourselves knee-deep into a psychological thriller along the lines of “just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not really out to get you”. Maura has a sister named Linda (Oona Airola) with a teenaged daughter, Ronja (Senja Poikonen). The siblings have had a complicated off-and-on relationship, as is so often the case among families. Linda starts dating a handsome, charming coworker named Erkka (Pekka Strang). Maura recoils with a mixture of fear and hostility at first sight of him. She urges Linda to dump the guy, without explaining her reasons. Linda, still hurting from the end of her latest bad relationship, dismisses Maura’s warnings as envy.
For the rest of the way, we and Aaro start learning the history between Maura and Erkka, with lingering suspense as to whether she’s nuts or he’s evil. Simo Halinen’s script skillfully dangles bits and pieces of information, keeping either possibility (or perhaps a combination of both) on the table throughout. As director, Halinen is a bit less adroit. The awkward intertwining of flashbacks and cutaways makes timelines and sequence rather hard to follow. But the story and all–around solid performances still make it a worthy option for one’s viewing time.
THE GIRL WHO DISAPPEARED premieres October 20, 2026 in the U.S. and Canada on MHz Choice.
2 1/2 Out Of 4 Stars