Clark review: Bill Skarsgard has a blast playing serial womanizer and celebrity bank robber Clark Olofsson in Swedish series

2.5/5

Story: Sweden’s first celebrity criminal, Clark Olofsson, not only began a life of crime, involving robbery, drugs, assault, etc., at a young age, but also famously escaped juvenile detention and, subsequently prison, several times. One of his robberies, where he held hostages for six days, led to the terminology Stockholm Syndrome, wherein victims feel compassion towards their captor. Clark was also a serial womanizer and this six-part Netflix series is his story.

Review: Netflix’s limited series on the life of celebrity criminal Clark Olofsson is not a dark and series docu-drama that one would expect with a true-crime story. This one feels more like a rollercoaster ride with Bill Skarsgard, as the title character Clark, having an absolute blast as the self-serving criminal and serial womanizer. But this could also be because the series is based on an autobiography by Clark, so the events narrated follow his perspective of how things panned out. In fact, every episode runs a disclaimer that it is based on his truths and lies.

This should also explain why the series appears to glorify Clark and makes him look more likeable than hold him accountable for the trauma he caused people in his years as an active criminal. The narrative focus on Clark’s lust for fame, money and women, which, according to the series, he got in abundance. Women, back then, seemed to be absolutely enamoured by this smooth-talking, charmer, who’d quite literally knock their pants off.

So, while the series details Clark’s many run-ins with the law for robberies, assaults, etc., it is also about his endless sexcapades. There is a lot of nudity and plenty of sex, therefore. Six hours of this will, after a point, feel as if things are unfolding on loop. So, in that sense, Clark is not an easy watch, and most definitely not one you can watch at one go.

Verdict: Clark feels more fiction than fact, although it may just be a bunch of facts dressed up with hyped narratives. If you are a truth seeker and are looking for an objective account of events, this may not be it. But if you are okay with a fun narrative of the life of Sweden’s first celebrity criminal, you may enjoy it. I didn’t.