The countdown is on. Titles from former streaming service Topic will be available once again on MHz Choice in the next few days.
At the end of February, film and home entertainment distributor Kino Lorber announced the merger of its MHz Choice and Topic streaming services — creating a single powerhouse streamer of international series for audiences in the US and Canada. The new service will maintain the MHz Choice branding (and $7.99/month subscription fee) and bring together the two streamers’ libraries of some of the best television content from across the globe.
Some programs have already made their way from Topic to MHz Choice (a few even before the merger was announced), including Italian political dramas 1992, 1993, and 1994; Swedish mystery drama Agatha Christie’s Hjerson; both the English-subtitled and English-dubbed versions of Finnish mystery-crime drama Arctic Circle; Swedish-Danish Nordic noir crime drama The Bridge; Finnish thriller Helsinki Syndrome; Norwegian historical drama State of Happiness; Australian gothic drama Lambs of God; and Danish crime drama White Sands.
On Monday, April 1, when the two streamers officially become one, dozens more international TV titles will move from Topic to MHz Choice and its digital channels, including MHz Choice on Prime Channels, where they will be shown in their original languages with hard-coded English subtitles. (English-dubbed versions of select titles will also be available, dates tba). English-language programs have the option of being streamed with closed captions.
Below is a list of 18 titles arriving on MHz Choice on April 1. (Scheduling may change without prior notice.)
Après (Canada)
Opening in the immediate aftermath of a tragic event that occurs in the small village of Lac-Sabin in the Laurentians, Quebec, Canada, this Québécois drama depicts the physical, psychological, and social consequences of the tragedy. As the survivors and everyone around them try to make sense of what happened, what’s certain is that their lives and nothing in this quiet village will ever be the same again. The ensemble cast includes Karine Vanasse (Cardinal), David Boutin (The Wall), Martin-David Peters (Nikita), and Henri Chassé (The Night Logan Woke Up), amongst others.
Christian (Italy)
This drama follows Christian (Edoardo Pesce, The Hunter, The Guest Room), a thug who serves as the henchman for local crime boss Lino (Giodano De Plano, The Trial) in a crime-ridden neighborhood on the outskirts of Rome. After bleeding stigmata appear on his hands, Christian begins to realize that he has gained mysterious healing powers in his hands, especially after he saves neighbor Rachele (Silvia D’Amico, No Place Like Home) from a fatal overdose with a simple touch. As he does healing work for people in the area, he attracts the attention of Matteo (Claudio Santamaria, Casino Royale), a mysterious Vatican postulator, who is in search of signs and confirmation of a miracle that changed his own life as a child — while carrying a truth that could devastate the world.
Commandos (Netherlands-Belgium-South Africa)
Werner Kolf (The Neighbors, Wolf) stars in this action-thriller series as Commander John de Koning, a Special Forces officer who leaves the Royal Dutch Commandos to focus on his family after a covert mission in Nigeria goes terribly wrong. While working a new job in the security business and trying to get his civilian life on track, two members of his old platoon die in suspicious circumstances. John’s hunt for the killer tests the loyalty and perseverance of this tight-knit group of highly-trained former soldiers, as they go from being the hunters to the hunted in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Meanwhile, John is confronted by secrets from his past and the dark longing within himself to live side by side with death.
Dark Woods (Germany)
Inspired by actual events, this mystery-crime drama follows Thomas Bethge (Matthias Brandt, Babylon Berlin) and his nearly thirty-year search for his missing sister. At about the same time in 1989 that Barbara Neder (Silke Bodenbender, Tatort) vanishes and her brother, Thomas, a high-ranking police officer, begins investigating her disappearance, Anne Bach (Karoline Schuch, Luther and I), a young, whip-smart police detective, starts delving into what could be the work of a serial killer. The paths of the two cops cross, and for nearly three decades, Anne, along with Thomas’s longtime colleague and friend, Frank Behringer (Andreas Lust, The Typist), help Thomas in his investigation — until he finally solves the case, well after the police had closed it.
Dead Mountain (Russia)
Based on the declassified files of the Dyatlov Pass Incident, this historical drama tells the story of the real-life mystery of nine students, all experienced hikers, who set out on a trek in the Ural Mountains in January 1959 but never reach their destination. When their frozen, near-naked bodies are found scattered across the campsite a month later, and their tent is shown to have been cut open from the inside, the investigators are confounded about who or what the hikers were trying to escape from and how and why they died. Then KGB agent Oleg Kostin (Pyotr Fyodorov, Sputnik) arrives to conduct a confidential inquiry with help from local medical examiner Katya (Mariya Lugovaya, Better than Us). As his quest to find the truth continues, his list of questions grows.
Deceit (UK)
This true-crime drama is based on the controversial honeypot operation carried out by the Metropolitan Police in Southwest London in 1992. It stars Niamh Algar (Raised by Wolves) as Met undercover officer DC Sadie Byrne, who, as “Lizzie James,” serves as bait for a suspected murderer in the sting. Eddie Marsan (Ray Donovan) costars as criminal profiler Professor Paul Britton, who devises the undercover operation designed to elicit a confession from the suspect.
Embezzlement (Israel)
This historical crime thriller dramatizes the true story of Eti Alon (Dana Ivgy, Queens), a mother of two and an employee at a family-owned bank, who embezzles money from customers’ accounts and funnels it to her her gambling-addicted brother, Ofer (Yehuda Levi, East Side), to save him from debt collectors. All told, she embezzles a quarter of a billion shekels (roughly US$100M at the time, $1B in today’s value) and triggers the downfall of the bank. After confessing to the police, investigators unravel the case that changed Israeli society: The stolen money was first siphoned to illicit casinos run by local organized crime, and then used to buy sophisticated arms and advanced ammunition, fueling internal wars and giving rise to a new generation of young crime families.
The Grave (Israel)
In this mystery drama, an earthquake in the north of Israel reveals a large pit in a nature reserve, where three human skeletons are discovered. However, after tests are done to identify the individuals, the results reveal that the DNA of the deceased matches that of three people who are still alive. Investigating the case are police detectives Gabi (Tsahi Halevi, Fauda) and Chava (Michal Kalman, When Heroes Fly), but the further they delve into it, the more questions arise and the less there seems to be a logical explanation.
Happily Married (Canada)
Set in the sleepy Sainte-Foy suburb of Quebec City in the 1970s, this viewer-favorite crime comedy-drama centers on two married couples who deal with relationship woes and other crises in their lives by embarking on a murder and crime spree while their children are away at summer camp — becoming the most infamous quartet of criminals in Quebec history. The series stars Marilyn Castonguay (Plan B), François Létourneau (Série Noire), Patrice Robitaille (Les beaux malaises), and Karine Gonthier-Hyndman (Les Invisibles).
The Killing (Denmark)
This BAFTA Award-winning and International Emmy®-nominated Nordic noir crime drama stars Sofie Gråbøl (Prisoner, The Shift) as Detective Sarah Lund, a Danish cop who investigates the rape and murder of a teenage girl in Season 1. Season 2 finds a demoted Lund called to Copenhagen to assist on the case of a military adviser’s murder. The series closes with Detective Chief Inspector Lund investigating the murder of a sailor and the abduction of an industrial magnate’s nine-year-old daughter.
The Missing Children (Ireland)
This gripping true-crime docuseries tells the heart-wrenching story of what happened to 796 babies, born to unwed mothers at the Catholic-run Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in the West Ireland town of Tuam, between 1922 and 1998. The story has its beginnings with local historian and Tuam resident Catherine Corless, later made public in a shocking exposé by journalist Allison O’Reilly and confirmed by a test excavation: “a significant number” of human remains were found on the grounds of the mother and baby home in Tuam — in a sewage tank.
An Ordinary Woman (Russia)
This humorous drama stars Best Actress Award winner Anna Mikhalkova (To the Lake) as Marina, the owner of a small flower shop who lives a seemingly ordinary, middle-class life in Moscow with her husband and children. But lurking beneath this manicured facade is her secret career of running a clandestine network of call girls, which is threatened following the death of one of them.
Pagan Peak (Germany-Austria)
Adapted from the Swedish-Danish series The Bridge, the first season of this crime drama follows Ellie Stocker (Julia Jentsch, Hannah Arendt), a cheerful and dedicated cop with the Traunstein criminal investigation unit, and Gedeon Winter (Nicholas Ofczarek, Dark Woods), an alcoholic druggie and bent cop with the Salzburg criminal investigation team, as they investigate the discovery of a man found frozen in the snow at the Austrian-German border — the first victim in what becomes a serial killer case.
Persona (Turkey)
In this award-winning crime drama, retired court clerk Agâh (Haluk Bilginer, Ezel) is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, news that depresses him until he realizes that the disease can have its advantages. So, he sets about putting them in action. Elsewhere in Istanbul, Nevra (Cansu Dere, The Magnificent Century), a female homicide detective, is being bullied by her colleagues. Meanwhile, a serial killer is at work — forcing Agâh and Nevra to dig deep into their pasts as they embark on their own paths to justice.
Prisoners of War (Israel)
This award-winning mystery-thriller, upon which the American series Homeland is based, follows two Israeli soldiers who, after spending 17 years in captivity when a secret mission with their unit in Lebanon didn’t go as planned, return home alive. As they attempt to reintegrate themselves into their families and Israeli society, a secret investigation is launched to find the truth behind their capture and the many discrepancies in the survivors’ stories. As the investigators get closer to finding out what really happened to them in captivity, the two soldiers become even more determined to hide the biggest secret of all.
Rough Cut (UK/Wales)
Based on Iwan Iwcs Roberts’s first novel Dal y Mellt, this drama follows Carbo (Gwïon Morris Jones, Masters of the Air), a lad who seems to be followed by bad luck. To wit: Old farmer Gronw (Dyfan Roberts, The Cormorant) has asked garage boss Mici Finn (Mark Lewis Jones, Outlander) and Les Moore (Graham Land) to find Carbo, not just because he’s an excellent mechanic and car thief, but because he’s also a first-class lock picker. As Carbo weaves his way in and out of one situation after another, he remains hellbent on surviving to see another day as he finds himself an unwitting part of a huge diamond heist.
Sakho & Mangane (Senegal)
This action-crime drama with supernatural elements follows two polar opposite police officers in Dakar: the older and calmer Commander Sakho (Issaka Sawadogo, Io Capitano) and the younger, more impetuous and violent Inspector Mangane (Yann Gael, 1899). This crime-fighting duo investigate murders and crimes that involve black magic, all under the direction of Mama Ba (Christiane Dumont, Golden), the first woman to head up a police station in the capital city.
SF8 (South Korea)
Considered by some to be the Black Mirror of South Korea, this science fiction anthology series imagines a futuristic society where people dream of perfection but experience conflict created by artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual realities, robots, superpowers, and global disasters.
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