Binge-worthy: Murder Mindfully takes a stab at wellness culture

Murder Mindfully

Netflix
★★★☆☆

In Singapore, the words “German” and “comedy” are rarely used together. Think of German shows and the usual suspects come to mind: war dramas (All Quiet On The Western Front, 2022) or science-fiction series Dark (2017 to 2020). All serious, all grim.

Murder Mindfully, a crime comedy, might be the show that breaks the perception that Germans cannot be funny.

Released on Netflix on Oct 31, the eight-episode first season is adapted from German writer Karsten Dusse’s 2019 novel of the same name.

The story follows Bjorn (played by Tom Schilling), a mob lawyer in crisis. His marriage is in shambles because of his long hours and the Eastern European drug dealers he works for have impossible demands.

While the blue-blooded senior partners at his law firm love the blood-soaked euros his accounts bring in, they look down their aristocratic noses at him when it comes time for promotion.

Through a darkly comic, revenge-driven plot that viewers will remember from Fargo (2014 to present) or Better Call Saul (2015 to 2022), the panic-stricken Bjorn turns to mindfulness therapy. Being who he is – a greedy opportunist who twists everything to his advantage – the lawyer comes away with all the wrong lessons.

Here are three reasons to watch it.

1. Unexpected satirical bite

This show mocks the wellness movement in ways not seen outside of the dramedy The White Lotus (2021 to present). As shown in the HBO series – and by countless influencers on TikTok and Instagram – one can take to breath awareness, emotional regulation and mindful meditation like a duck to water and still be a terrible person.

Schilling’s Bjorn is an egomaniac who proves that when selfish people take mindfulness training, they get better at suppressing the inner voice telling them that they are acting like monsters.

As his enemies discover, their worst nightmare is a lawyer who uses breathwork to control his fight-or-flight response because it makes him a genius at getting out of unexpected scrapes.

2. German take on American crime staple

This German production takes its storytelling style from the accessible television comedy playbook. The pacing, visuals and plot twists owe a debt to shows like Barry (2018 to 2023).

They are about a man living a double life, while dodging the police, manipulating mobsters and keeping his life at home safe from the criminality he surrounds himself with.

In Barry, the title character (played by Bill Hader) is a struggling actor who is secretly an assassin trained by the American military. In Mindfully, Bjorn is a sheep thrown into the company of Eastern European wolves who is far from being the wimp they think he is.

At times, Mindfully feels like a cheap European knock-off of Barry. But to give it credit, Mindfully, as a non-English show, cannot milk jokes from funny accents and Los Angeles stereotypes the way Barry can. It has to rely on dialogue and situations for laughs. Its gentler, more even approach leads to a show with fewer highs, but also fewer lows.

3. Likeable protagonist

None of Mindfully’s pluses would work if Bjorn were unlikeable, of course.

German actor Schilling, who is new to this reviewer, delivers a performance that reveals the human heart of an otherwise morally abhorrent character.

The screenwriting keeps Bjorn relatable. Which office worker would not want the mafia on his side delivering discreet justice to work bullies, smug teachers at his daughter’s school or power-mad civil servants?

Schilling’s vulnerability completes the package. Bjorn is an anti-hero nice enough to be admired, and dark enough to be interesting.