Review: Trio – The Hunt for a Legendary Treasure – Trio – Jakten på Olavsskrinet (2017)

Director: Eva Dahr | 78 minutes | action, adventure, family, crime | Actors: Naomi Hasselberg Thorsrud, Bjørnar Lysfoss Hagesveen, Henrik Hines Grape, Franziska Tørnquist, Reidar Sørensen, Minh-Khai Phan-Thi, Per Kjerstad, Bjørn Bernt, Regine Stokkevåg Eide, Samantha Lawson, Ole Vidogauheim

‘Trio – The Hunt for a Legendary Treasure’ is about a group of teenagers who inadvertently come into contact with an internationally operating crime gang. A relic was recently brutally stolen from a church and the culprit is likely someone known as ‘the shadow’. Friends Nora, Simen and Lars become involved in the theft when Nora’s grandfather gets hold of part of the puzzle.

This action film, made in Norway, starts immediately. Hardly any time is spent on introducing the characters, but that is because the target group in the country of origin has known the children for a long time. Fourteen-year-old Nora, fifteen-year-old Simen and 16-year-old Lars have already appeared on television for three seasons in the award-winning detective series of the same name. In ‘Trio – The hunt for a legendary treasure’ the characters therefore remain a bit on the surface. There are some tensions between Nora and Simen, Nora ends the courtship within five minutes of the start. But of course the trio must later work together to solve the mystery.

The story is – especially for those who have seen more Dan Brown meets Indiana Jones-esque films like this – a bit on the simple side. The bad guy – a girl in this case – has not-too-clever henchmen and a good reason for wanting to own the shrine of Saint Olaf, the treasure it is all about (which, by the way, actually existed in the time of the Vikings. and which is still eagerly searched for in the fjord of Agdenes). The twist is mainly in the relationship between Nora and her grandfather. Can he or cannot he be trusted? That makes it just a bit more exciting.

The trio, who get help from outsider Emma (who was also in seasons 2 and 3), know very easily how to overcome one obstacle after another. If this were to happen in real life, wheelchair nerd Lars would be offered a contract by an IT company in no time, because his hacking skills are second to none. That fact and the fact that the teens have access to everything – including financial resources – hampers credibility, but it keeps the pace going. Add to that the fact that after seeing the beautiful Norwegian landscape you would book a one-way trip to Norway and that the young actors are fine with their roles and you can conclude that the target group (9 – 13 year olds) Trio – The hunt for a legendary treasure ‘will never be boring.