What happens when you mix the skills of being mindful with trying to survive in a world of violent crime. Björn Diemal finds out in the series Murder Mindfully by Netflix. Dark humour abounds in the clash between mental harmony and dog eat dog criminality. Better still, it is not just the felons who are at the receiving ends of the jokes.
His marriage is failing and his relationship with his daughter is suffering, but there is a lot worse facing Björn Diemal. He is a talented lawyer, but sidelined by his practice that are happy to take the money from his work with crime boss, Dragan, whilst simultaneously holding him in contempt. The continual calls to fix Dragan’s problems, the stress of the impossible demands on him, and an ultimatum from his wife, lead the desperate Björn to take a mindfullness course.
Different practices of wellness drop into the series in timely fashion in the form of flashbacks from Björn’s teacher, Joschka Breitner.
Drakan goes too far, committing a crime in public and Björn is forced to smuggle him out of the city, whilst taking his daughter on holiday. On the trip, Björn accidentally kills Drakan and from this point on finds himself trying to use the techniques of mindfulness to solve increasingly difficult problems, which contrasts brilliantly with the less than subtle methods favoured by the mobsters.
Covering up Drakan’s death, Björn has to convince the gang that he is the conduit for their boss’s messages. At the same time, Toni, the gang’s second in command grows steadily more suspicious and a rival gang starts to take advantage of the situation. The violence escalates. A former colleague of Björn’s, Nicole Eckmann, is highly competent, and, unfortunately for Björn, in charge of the police investigation into Drakan’s disappearance.
Björn has to stay alive and out of the hands of the law. Will he?
Murder Mindfully is an eight-episode season from Netflix. Season 2 has just been commissioned and should be out in late 2025.
