The Viaplay May 2023 titles have been announced and include chilling true-crime series, young adult dramas, sports documentaries, and more. As the Nordic region’s leading streaming platform and producer of original content, Viaplay continues to bring premium titles to North America.
The Viaplay May 2023 lineup includes the North American premieres of the series The Congregation, based on the true story of the Knutby cult, the survival thriller Riding in Darkness, and Season 2 of Delete Me, a young adult drama starring Sofia Tjelta Sydness.
Viaplay is the leading producer of high-quality and psychologically penetrating series and films from the Nordic region — a genre known as Nordic Noir — whether that be atmospheric and suspenseful crime dramas, provocative and stylish young adult series, or dark comedies.
Subscribers have unparalleled access to high-quality Nordic film and television on Viaplay, all subtitled in English.
Viaplay is available to stream in the US via apps on iOS (Apple’s App Store) and Android (Google Play) mobile phones and tablets; Chromecast devices; Smart TVs, Android TV, Google TV, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV streaming devices; as well as on web browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari).
The service is also available through Comcast’s Xfinity and Xumo platforms and as part of The Roku Channel’s Premium Subscriptions line-up.
VIAPLAY HIGHLIGHTS FOR MAY
Delete Me Season 2 – Exclusive North American Premiere Thursday, May 4, 2023
Sanna (Sofia Tjelta Sydness) is no longer the coolest kid in school. After being humiliated by her boyfriend, and with her plans to move to New York on ice due to the coronavirus, she is working as a waitress in Oslo while dreaming of an influencer career on YouTube.
Desperate for fame, Sanna follows advice from her favorite influencer and makes the fateful decision to sell intimate pictures of herself online. (6 episodes, binge)
The Congregation – Exclusive US Premiere Thursday, May 11, 2023
Starring Alba August, Aliette Opheim, and Amy Deasismont, The Congregation depicts the events of the Christian cult Knutby in the early 2000s, in a rural small town in Sweden. Anna (Alba August), a young and naive woman, moves to Knutby to become part of the free church congregation as a nanny, which to her seems like a warm and pious community.
But soon the idyll that never existed crackles, and manipulation, power games, social exclusion, group pressure, brainwashing, fanaticism and both more and less religiously sanctioned left-wing chatter end in murder and grief. (6 episodes, binge)
Riding in Darkness – Exclusive North American Premiere Thursday, May 25, 2023
A survival thriller, based on true events. Three women with different connections to one man need to find a way to get out of the monster’s grip.
Will they be believed or can he manipulate the surroundings once again? (8 episodes, binge)
VIAPLAY MAY 2023 SCHEDULE
AVAILABLE MAY 1
Detective Maria Kallio (Maria Kallio) – Season 1
Detective Maria Kallio (Elena Leeve) is a drama series about a thirty-something cop, who dreams of becoming a lawyer but ends up heading the murder squad. (2021, 10 episodes)
Robin (Uro) – Film
A traumatized woman is found in a forest, claiming to have witnessed a murder. As the police investigates it they can’t find anything proving her story. The woman is convinced that she’s the next victim and starts her own investigation to figure out what really happened, trying to find the murderer before he finds her.
As she comes closer, the truth is finally revealed along with severe consequences that will change everything. (2017)
AVAILABLE MAY 4
Delete Me – Season 2
(Winner, Best Cinematography TV Drama, Gullruten
Winner, Best Editing TV Drama, Gullruten)
Sanna (Sofia Tjelta Sydness) is no longer the coolest kid in school. After being humiliated by her boyfriend, and with her plans to move to New York on ice due to the coronavirus, she is working as a waitress in Oslo while dreaming of an influencer career on YouTube.
Desperate for fame, Sanna follows advice from her favorite influencer and makes the fateful decision to sell intimate pictures of herself online. (2022, 6 episodes)
AVAILABLE MAY 10
Nadia Nadim – Gamechanger – Documentary
Follow Nadia Nadim through one of the most challenging periods in her life, when Nadia has to retrain after an injury, while at the same time she has to stand up for her attitudes in order to keep her place on the Danish national football team. (2022, 2 episodes)
AVAILABLE MAY 11
The Congregation (Knutby) (US Premiere)
(Winner, Best Actress, Kristallen)
Depicts the events of the Christian cult of Knutby in the early 2000s, taking place in a rural small town in Sweden. Anna, a young and naive woman, moves to Knutby to become part of the free church congregation as a nanny, which to her seems like a warm and pious community.
But soon the idyll that never existed crackles, and manipulation, power games, social exclusion, group pressure, brainwashing, fanaticism and both more and less religiously sanctioned left-wing chatter end in murder and grief. (2021, 6 episodes)
AVAILABLE MAY 15
Honour (Heder) – Season 3
Season three opens with a terrorist act connected to the Incel (involuntarily celibate) subculture as the four partners of Stockholm law firm Heder (Honour) face unprecedented personal risks and ethical dilemmas. Their commitment to defending women’s rights and society’s most exploited people is stronger than ever – but can their ideals survive both today’s challenges and the secrets of the past?
Alexandra Rapaport (Gåsmamman), Eva Röse (Locked Down), Anja Lundqvist (Together) and Julia Dufvenius (Modus) will reprise their leading role in the show which is based on an idea by Sofia Helin (The Bridge) and developed by Rapaport, Röse, Lundqvist and Dufvenius. (2022, 6 episodes)
AVAILABLE MAY 18
Live Life (Leva Life) – North American Premiere
Nora is a popular and happy young woman in her early twenties. She has just gotten her degree in journalism and is about to start her first work at a gossip magazine in Stockholm, when she is diagnosed with serious cancer. At first she tries to keep the cancer a secret from the world, pretending everything is fine.
But soon she is going to need all the help and support she can get from her family and friends, in order to cope and stay alive. ”Leva Life” is based on the life and real experiences of the young Swedish journalist Lovisa Ström. It is a story about life, death and friendship that will survive anything. It’s about being young – and alive. (2023, 8 episodes)
AVAILABLE MAY 22
Meaning of Life
Meaning of Life Is a dramedy filled with warmth and dark humor. The series tells the story of Alva and Ellen and their families. Alva (Celie Sparre) wants nothing more than to become a parent together with boyfriend Nico (Hannes Fohlin: ‘The Emigrants’), but it’s just not happening.
Meanwhile, her sister Ellen (Helena af Sandeberg) has three children with husband Alex (Ulf Stenberg: ‘Love Me’) – and dearly wishes she hadn’t. (2022, 8 episodes)
AVAILABLE MAY 25
Riding in Darkness (Nattryttarna) – North American Premiere
A survival thriller, based on true events. Three women with different connections to one man need to find a way to get out of the monster’s grip. Will they be believed or can he manipulate the surroundings once again? (2022, 8 episodes)
ON YOUR RADAR – AVAILABLE TO BINGE
In addition to the new Viaplay May 2023 titles, check out the following programming on the streaming service.
The Dreamer – Becoming Karen Blixen – Viaplay Original Series (North American Premiere)
The Dreamer – Becoming Karen Blixen is the story of one woman’s struggle to find her place in life while freeing herself from the expectations of family and society. The series takes place in the 1930s and follows Karen Blixen’s return to Denmark after many years in East Africa.
Cell 8 – Viaplay Original Series
In Sweden, a man named John Schwarz is arrested for assault on a ferry to Finland. There is something wrong with John. Who is he? A man with no identity? A man who really should be dead?
In the United States, Edward Finnegan curses his fate. Although many years have passed, he will not be able to find peace until he can avenge the murder of his daughter. (2022, 6 episodes)
The Dreamer – Becoming Karen Blixen – Viaplay Original Series
The Dreamer – Becoming Karen Blixen is the story of one woman’s struggle to find her place in life while freeing herself from the expectations of family and society. The series takes place in the 1930s and follows Karen Blixen’s return to Denmark after many years in East Africa.
Penniless, sick, divorced, and with her dreams in ruins, The Dreamer – Becoming Karen Blixen shows Blixen’s journey from her lowest point to becoming a renowned writer, including visualizations of her interior life and the magical universe of her stories. Starring Connie Nielsen (Gladiator, Wonder Woman).
a-ha: The Movie – English-Language Documentary Feature Film
(Nominee, Audience Award, Tribeca Film Festival
Nominee, Best Music Documentary Feature, Nashville Film Festival)
Exclusive to Viaplay. Follows the popular band on tour, telling the full story of how three young men followed their impossible dream of becoming Norwegian pop stars. When “Take On Me” reached number 1 on Billboard in the US in 1985 the dream came true. Or did it?
Margrete: Queen of the North (Margrete den første) – Film (U.S. only)
1402. Queen Margrete is ruling Sweden, Norway and Denmark through her adopted son, Erik. But a conspiracy is in the making and Margrete finds herself in an impossible dilemma that could shatter her life’s work: the Kalmar Union.
Starring highly celebrated Danish actress Trine Dyrholm, who has been nominated 15 times for both the Bodil Awards and Robert Awards, including both nominations for her portrayal as Queen Margrete.
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills in 2018 to cover the latest news on streaming, movies, TV, and video games.