Vigil - Death on the High Seas - Season 1 - Blu-ray

Movie: Mysterious things happen on the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Scotland: first, a small fishing boat along with its crew is inexplicably pulled into the depths. Shortly after, the body of a crew member is found aboard the nuclear submarine HMS Vigil, which was very close by. Detective Chief Inspector Amy Silva (Suranne Jones) must board the submarine to investigate on the spot whether the man actually died of an overdose. While she has to fight hostility from the crew and claustrophobic thrusts, her colleague and ex-girlfriend DS Kirsten Longacre (Rose Leslie) on shore tries to help the investigation. But she, too, encounters only a wall of silence - until she stumbles upon a lead that suggests there's far more to this than meets the eye...

"Vigil - Death on the High Seas" is a gripping mini-series that works really well on two levels: On the one hand, there is the investigation on land, which follows the pattern of classic political thrillers and, despite some clichés, definitely has surprising and, above all, very exciting moments to offer. On the other hand, there are Amy's investigations on board, where she not only encounters enormous resistance from the crew, but also has to deal with a very personal dream. The whole thing reaches its climax in a scene that seems a bit far-fetched, but its claustrophobic effect makes it hard to beat in terms of suspense.

Naturally, for safety reasons alone, it was not possible to shoot on a real submarine. All the more impressive is what the set designers and builders have delivered here. Simply magnificent. You can literally feel Amy's throat tightening in the face of the confines of this place, which creates a very high level of tension even in the somewhat tamer moments. Add to that the strong acting of Suranne Jones in particular, who is supported by a first-rate ensemble cast that includes familiar faces from series like "Game of Thrones" (Rose Leslie, Daniel Portman), "The Young Inspector Morse" (Shaun Evans) or the Netflix high-flyer "Sex Education" (Connor Swindells).

Admittedly, in the course of the six episodes there are a few small lengths, somewhat template-like drawn characters and arg conventional plot elements. But these small points of criticism hardly have a negative impact in view of the many strong moments. Well acted, atmospherically tightly staged and grippingly filmed - the five and a half hours or so fly by. A really exciting piece of television from Great Britain: Absolutely worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The image of the Blu-ray convinces with a high overall sharpness, which also in the many dark scenes on board the submarine has hardly any weaknesses in the detail representation. In the exterior shots, the somewhat reduced-looking color scheme provides the appropriate atmosphere. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix shows its full power especially at the beginning of the first episode during the sinking of the fishing boat, which is also used repeatedly in later moments. Overall, however, the dialogues and the rather restrained music set the tone. Good!

Extras: The second disc has about 20 minutes of extras on board. These are some promo clips and interviews that reveal some interesting details about the sets and their creation, as well as the directing and story. A direct look at the sets would have been more interesting here, but what the set designer has to say is also quite exciting.

Conclusion: "Vigil - Death on the High Seas" is a gripping mini-series that works not only as a tense political thriller, but also as a psychological drama with a very claustrophobic atmosphere. While it's not entirely free of clichés, the engaging production and strong acting by the great ensemble quickly consoles over that. The Blu-ray presents the six episodes in good picture and sound quality and also has a few quite interesting interviews on board as a bonus. All in all, quite clearly: recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp