Lost memories and a grim discovery collide in ‘Forest of the Missing’

A judge with amnesia, an eager German detective and his world-weary boss team up to investigate a series of murders stretching back 30 years.

A woman holding a gun, pointed at something or someone unseen, stands in front of a mist-shrouded stone building, with a leafless tree behind her.

Hélène de Fougerolles in 'Forest of the Missing'. Credit: Alessandro Clemenza

Plenty of things are easy to forget. Where you parked your car. What time you were meeting a friend for lunch. Where you left your phone. One thing that’s not so easy to forget? A mass grave with 12 bodies in it. But for French Judge Camille Hartmann (Hélène de Fougerolles), that’s exactly what’s happened… or at least, she thinks that might be the case, even if she can’t quite remember why.

A car accident a year ago left her memory in tatters. She had a promising career as a crusading judge; now that’s been put on hold. But news of the mass grave brings back memories – or at least, pieces of them. It’s enough to convince her that she needs to be part of the investigation. Maybe she can find the killer. Maybe she can find herself.

A woman sits at a table, looking earnestly at another woman sitting opposite her, who is only seen from side-on. A white-haired man holding a folder can just be discerned in the background.

Camille Hartmann (Hélène de Fougerolles) chases answers. Credit: Alessandro Clemenza

And this is no small case. The grave is in the Black Forest, near the border between France and Germany, close by a shared military base. The bodies – all men – have been killed over a 30-year period, and the two most recent victims are very recent indeed. This is in no way a cold case, even if the location is very cold indeed (seriously, the Black Forest looks freezing – this is the kind of series you’ll want to get rugged up to watch).

Forest of the Missing won the Grand Prize at the Cognac Polar Festival in 2022, and the award was well-deserved. Over the four episodes the pace doesn’t let up, with a mystery that keeps on twisting as the story widens and becomes more complex. Even if you think you know where things are heading, it’s never quite going in the direction you expect, with plenty of developments designed to leave you gasping.

A man in a dark coat stands in a snowy landscape.

Gregory Fitoussi as policeman Erik Maes. Credit: Alessandro Clemenza

With the bodies being found on the German side of the border, it’s no surprise the Germans take the lead in the investigation. Heading up the investigation is a young inspector from Karlsruhe, Erik Maes (Gregory Fitoussi), while supervising – which often seems to mean making wry, tongue-in-cheek comments – is Captain Franz Agerland (Tcheky Karyo).

If you’re wondering where you’ve seen Karyo, the short answer is “everywhere”. He’s been a fixture on our screens for close to thirty years, appearing in everything from La Femme Nikita to Bad Boys and Goldeneye on the big screen, to Baptiste and ZeroZeroZero on television – and there’s his appearances in the three family-friendly Belle and Sebastian movies (also screening

at SBS On Demand

) as well.

A man in a dark coat and cap and glasses, with a small white beard, stands in an underground carpark. A figure can be seen walking in the distance.

Tchéky Karyo as Captain Franz Agerland. Credit: Alessandro Clemenza

Maes and Agerland aren’t exactly comic relief, but their banter does provide some lighter moments in a series that otherwise takes things very seriously. The grim and chilly backdrop of the Black Forest sets the tone; even the snappiest of one-liners can’t do much to lighten the mood when you’re ankle-deep in snow. It’s a setting that suits Judge Hartmann. She’s a woman with scars in her past that haunt her, even if she can’t quite remember how she got them.

Despite the collection of male bodies in the forest grave, Forest of the Missing ends up focusing much more on female victims of crime than you might think. It’s a much more political story than it initially suggests as well, driven by a deep sense of outrage and anger. That’s a lot of ground for a four part series to cover, and the pace never lets up; this is a series where you can’t afford to take your eyes off the screen for a second.

A figure with long hair walks into a gloomy landscape, with trees looming on both sides.

Are there answers in the chill woods at the heart of 'Forest of the Missing'? Credit: Alessandro Clemenza

While the investigation backs up Hartmann’s suspicion that her accident was somehow linked to the case, it soon becomes clear that her injury isn’t the only link she has to the corpses in the woods. But when the spotlight turns to the boyfriend of Hartmann’s daughter, things rapidly spin out of hand. This isn’t the time for anyone to be wandering into the woods alone.

With a 30-year track record, the culprit is clearly someone who knows their way around killing. But if the murderer was linked to Hartmann’s accident, why was she left alive? Is she still in the sights of a killer, or is there a deeper reason why her life was spared – and if so, what choice will she be forced to make when the truth is revealed?

Forest of the Missing is streaming now

at SBS On Demand