DVD: The Killing (US): Season One, For retail & rental (20th Century Fox)

Yes, of course, the Danish original was darker. And it's true, too, that the makers of that didn't feel the need to cheat viewers by throwing in a final "twist" to cynically ensure they'd keep watching season two.

But the American Killing still exerts a vice-like grip thanks, mainly, to the central performances in this brooding study of how the murder of a young girl changes the lives of family, friends, police and suspects.