The Confessions of Thomas Quick
Century Films, Independent Film Sales,
True crime has become a tantalizing trend the past decade, and has shifted from a simply lurid genre to a meticulous and complex medium of storytelling. Sweden makes for an especially eerie place to revisit these crimes, as its barren arctic landscape makes for more sinister villains, and louder bumps in the night. Unfortunate for those who love a good setting for their crime sprees, Sweden has only one recorded serial killer in modern history. Deeply disturbed and psychologically stunted, Thomas Quick (aka Sture Bergwall) was committed to a mental institution in the eighties and soon after began regressive therapy. Dealing with intense emotions and repressed memories lent to Quick’s confessions to various murders that were previously unsolved. The victims varied, the crimes stretched between Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway, and the ways in which Quick killed were varied. His therapist explained that his psyche could be explained by his childhood, and as Quick’s story unfolded, Sweden stayed enraptured by his strange tale.
Canadian director Brian Hill interviewed Quick one-on-one, which truly helps us understand who this psych patient is under the surface. He relays the facts of his kills so matter-of-factly, that his therapist’s theory that all serial killers can be cured and made decent members of society through therapy, makes sense. Though serial killers are often characterized as cold, demonic murderers, Quick is a calm though frustrated man. He seems to be truly depressed and agitated by what he has done, and he grapples with intense emotions while in the mental institution. Police officers actually took him to the scenes of his so-called murders to re-enact them, and help them close as many as thirty cases.
Honestly, there is a lot to love about this film, but though it looks great stylistically, it doesn’t truly thrill. As a documentary, we learn much about the case, but it’s mostly through an outsider’s perspective. The journalists who work on exposing the truths of the institute and reveal who Quick truly is are a strong voice, but we don’t learn about Quick’s motivations. This is really a film about a miscarriage of justice and a lack of oversight by investigators. That needed to be better explained, and we as the audience needed to know why this really happened. Quick’s stories are so intricate and full of detail, yet investigators shrug off the motivations and conclude that this is a story of a man coerced by his therapist. Though Quick offers some explanation, it’s unclear where we land in the end: is this the story of justice being averted, or a sad and unstable man ruining his and others lives?
