In a few seconds, a mistake can change your life forever. Insomnia is centered on a Swedish detective trying to solve a murder while trying desperately to cover a mistake made from the difficult mix of the fog and human exhaustion, but in doing so, his guilt, shame, and suspicion that no one would believe him due to past mistakes, weigh down on him, twisting the police procedural upon itself. Stellan Skarsgård holds an incredibly restrained performance throughout the entire film, and it’s well-framed by writer-director Erik Skjoldbjærg, whose use of cold white light in this debut feature eventually became the staple of on-screen Scandinavian noir.

Noir is called noir because of its propensity for contrast between light and shadow, to match the cynical attitudes and murkiness of the character’s morals. This time, however, while the detective shares the same murky principles, the entire film is brightly lit, matching the way the 24-hour sun will not let the detective sleep, as well as the way his character is laid bare.