“Crime scene: Risks with side effects”
This is what the new thriller from Zurich has to offer
The commissioners Isabelle Grandjean (Anna Pieri Zürcher, left) and Tessa Ott (Carol Schuler) have to open the “crime scene: risks with side effects” in a law firm.
© SRF/Sava Hlavacek
In the “crime scene: risks with side effects” we go to Zurich. Isabelle Grandjean and Tessa Ott have to solve the murder of a lawyer.
In the second case after the summer break, the first sends the two Swiss commissioners on a criminal hunt. In “Tatort: Risks with side effects” (September 11, 8:15 p.m., the first) Isabelle Grandjean (Anna Pieri Zuercher, born 1979) and Tessa Ott (Carol Schuler, 35) have to solve the murder of a lawyer in Zurich .
Crime fans have only been served a case with the team for the fourth time. So far, the cases have not been very well received, the last “Tatort: Schattenkinder” (March 2022) achieved the worst rating of the year with 6.84 million viewers. Can “risks with side effects” be more convincing?
That’s what “crime scene: risks with side effects” is all about
When it comes to her clients, the lawyer Corinne Perrault (Sabine Timoteo, 47) shows no mercy. One day, however, the lawyer is dead in Lake Zurich. What initially looks like suicide turns out to be cold-blooded murder a little later. Perrault worked at the law firm of Clement & Widmer, representing the pharmaceutical company Argon. Their new drug Volmelia is about to be approved, but is said to cause devastating damage. The condition of young Klara Canetti (Anouk Petri), who is in a wheelchair due to a serious illness, has worsened since taking Volmelia. Her mother Dorit (Annina Butterworth, born 1980) then sued the pharmaceutical company.
There is a lot at stake for the group, in the event of a ban, the company and its star Dr. Regula Arnold (Laura de Weck, 41) lost a few million. There is great dismay in the law firm about Perrault’s death, boss Martina Widmer (Therese Affolter, 70) had a personal connection to her employees. But the two inspectors don’t buy her grief – the lawyer Matteo Riva (Benjamin Grüter, born 1974) also seems to have been closely associated with the dead woman.
The two investigators are still pursuing a third lead – Klara’s mother Dorit. Finally, Perrault put her daughter in a questioning very. Isabelle tries to build up trust in Klara, but the young woman breaks down when she is questioned. This is an important witness who might have shed some light on the matter.
Is it worth turning on?
As with the other three cases before, the new thriller from Switzerland is not 100% convincing. A plus point: “Risks with side effects” is more exciting than the two predecessors. A few people appear, all of whom appear suspicious – that’s why the viewer is groping in the dark for a long time. However, the film gets bogged down in some places, which causes the tension to drop at times.
A young, sick girl fights against a pharmaceutical company that seems ice-cold – the topic is highly emotional and arouses feelings of pity not only in the two inspectors. Above all, you get to see a new side of Isabelle Grandjean. “This case affects her very much because a child is involved, and she will want to solve the case so much that she will go a little beyond the limits,” describes actress Anna Pieri Zuercher in an interview with the broadcaster. The investigator, who is usually so tough, lets you look behind her facade and opens up more and more to Tessa Ott.
What is striking: In this case, in addition to the two investigators, many episode roles are occupied by women. So fans can look forward to “concentrated women’s power”, as director Christine Repond (40) announces. We have the screenwriters Stefanie Veith and Nina Vukovic (born 1978) to thank for the fact that this is the case. Only the role of the lawyer Widmer was originally intended as a man in the script, as Repond explains. “There are already so many films with older, powerful men, and I felt it was time to narrate such a role with a strong woman.” That was implemented very well in “Tatort” – because Therese Affolter plays the tough, calculating lawyer very convincingly.
Another positive aspect is that the city of Zurich is more involved as a place of action in the new case. In summary, it’s a solid thriller that you can easily tune into on a Sunday evening – but nothing more.