Elvira isn’t someone you’d immediately expect to be a tenacious, fearless protagonist trying to solve a mystery while facing down some nasty criminals inhabiting the underbelly of Copenhagen.
When we first meet the unassuming 35-year-old in this Danish series, she’s working as a receptionist in a Copenhagen brothel or, as it’s euphemistically called, “the clinic”.
Elvira leads a mundane existence. She begins each evening by washing the soiled bedding, refilling the bedside jars with condoms and changing the X-rated movie screening in the foyer.
After collecting the money from the sex workers for “renting” the clinic’s rooms, she goes home to her flat where she spends her time looking after her younger brother, drug addict Sixten (Anton Hjejle). She even helps him with his application to rent the flat next to hers, so Elvira can keep a closer eye on him.
Sixten (Anton Hjejle) with his friend Linda (Frederikke Dahl Hansen). Source: SBS
When she’s not fussing over Sixten, she is socialising with her best friend, Køster (Peter Plaugborg), a corrupt cop who also happens to run the brothel.
Life isn’t great for warm-hearted Elvira, but she has no reason to complain… until one of the sex workers, Candy, disappears while still owing 50,000 krone to Køster, who needs that money to pay his new bosses, two vicious gangsters he refers to as “The Swedes”.
Feeling responsible, Elvira decides to track down Candy and retrieve the cash. It’s a decision that will irrevocably change her as a person, and result in a number of increasingly catastrophic events that put both her and Køster in great danger while stretching their friendship to breaking point.
Elvira is a breakthrough part for emerging star Sara Klein Larsen who some eagle-eyed viewers may recognise from her small role in Danish thriller The Lawyer (also screening ).
In an interview with , Larsen says she feels Elvira is a product of a rough childhood, which has led her to focus on the welfare of others while neglecting herself.
“She grew up to be a warm and caring person,” she explains, “but I think Elvira would be happiest if she could see her own needs.”
Her too-trusting nature is particularly noticeable in her relationship with Sixten, who swings from naïve enthusiasm to junkie cunning with frightening ease.
It’s heartbreaking in early scenes to see kind, giving Elvira being taken advantage of by everyone from Køster and Sixten to her unscrupulous landlord.
Which makes it extremely satisfying as we witness her develop into a more confident, stronger individual able to stand up for herself.
Elvira grows in confidence throughout the eight-part season. Source: SBS
“When creating the character of Elvira, I was guided by my older sister,” says Larsen. “She has always been a mother figure – extremely helpful and protective towards me – so, with her in mind, it was easy to convey the same vibe in the Elvira/Sixten relationship.”
And then there’s Køster, who has known the other two since childhood.
“Elvira was both mother, friend and sister to Køster and Sixten,” Larsen says. “[They didn’t] have the best parents in the world. That’s how they were when they were kids, and that’s how they still are.
“When you go through difficult things together, you either stay close or you separate, and they have stayed very close. Køster chose Elvira as the receptionist at the clinic simply because she is the only person he trusts the most, and that trust works both ways.”
But that trust is sorely tested as The Swedes apply intense pressure on Køster to find the missing money.
Another day at work for Elvira (Sara Klein Larsen). Source: SBS
Elvira is adapted from Anne-Sophie Lunding-Sørensen’s novel, Happy Ending – and the lead character was born out of the author’s irritation with the Danish entertainment industry.
“I wanted to create a true anti-heroine who isn’t sassy and sexy, but rather is everything we are not allowed to be: fat, wicked and on welfare,” she in a recent interview.
It is a sentiment that Larsen can get behind. She is a member of Et Større Billede (A Bigger Picture) a female-led advocacy group addressing the lack of diversity in locally made movies and TV shows.
“We want to focus on the still very one-sided notion of what and who can represent ‘the normal’ in Denmark,” she posted on earlier this year. “We are a large group of actors who dream of change in our industry, so we get greater diversity and richer representation in Danish TV and film.”
If the group succeeds with its aims, then we can look forward to more series like Elvira, starring characters who prove that anyone can be the hero of their own story.
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Elvira - season 1 episode 1
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