The New Force: Is It A Good Drama?

The New Force (Season 1, Sweden, 2025) Series is a period cop drama, inspired by true events. It takes us back into the historical period of the 1950s in Sweden, when women had limited parity and rights.

Series Review [Spoiler-Free]: The New Force (Season 1, 2025) Swedish

Focus: When Women Joined the Police Force in 1950s Sweden…

Introduction

And, it is really hard to believe that it happened only 7 decades ago. The rights of women were notably curtailed by established gender roles that identified women chiefly as homemakers and mothers, even in Sweden in Europe. In those days, the widely accepted notion was that men were the main financial providers and heads of the family, while women were expected to be homemakers and caregivers for their children. However, during those days, several feminist writers began to confront the perception that a woman’s role was confined to the home, arguing that women should be empowered to juggle both family and career.

Series Synopsis

Inspired by true events. An understaffed police district in 1950s Sweden launches a bold experiment to introduce its first group of female officers.

So, in 1958, the first Swedish female police officer graduated. A small group of pioneers are taking a big step towards gender equality, but they continue to struggle when the skirts they are forced to wear cross unthinkable limits.

The Storylines

In 1958, Sweden’s first female police officers graduated; a small group of trailblazers taking a significant step towards gender equality. But they struggled to take even the smallest of steps themselves, as the skirts they were compelled to wear rubbed against their thighs like sandpaper. They are subjected to public ridicule, belittlement from the media, and disdain from their colleagues.

Assigned to the most crime-affected district in the country, the Klara police district in Stockholm, the new female recruits start their patrols in the streets of Stockholm.

They soon understand that their most significant issue is not the criminals; rather, it stems from the resistance of their colleagues and their own families.

Series Poster

[The original Swedish series title is "Skiftet", which means “the change”, and/or “the transition”.]

Inspiring Tale

This Swedish series with only 6 episodes focuses primarily on 3 women cops(seen above in the poster) , Carin Eriksson (Josefin Asplund), Siv Morell (Agnes Rase) and Ingrid Gustafsson (Malin Persson). Not only do these 3 female police officers go through the grind in their professional lives, but also in their personal lives. Most of the male police officers do not approve of their recruitment into the department.

So, these female cops of The New Force regularly face the usual misogynist behaviour from their male colleagues. These kinds of male conduct could have attracted departmental enquiries in today’s era.

Moreover, most of them also face unsympathetic behaviour from their friends and their family members. Furthermore, they also face hostility from the general public, the criminals, and society at large. Thus, even life outside of the police station is not hunky dory for these women cops.

Thankfully, the idea of the sisterhood is alive and kicking in it. It is inspiring to see all the women cops try to help each other out.

No doubt, the success of the first batch of women police officers laid the strong foundation for their induction into the forces.

What’s Good?

Fascinatingly, this Swedish series uses a contemporary soundtrack in this 1950s period drama, and we liked almost all the songs included in its album. So, the musical selections from the original score of the show, composed by Irya Gmeyner and Martin Hederos (Slow Comedy Queen, Systrar 1968, Sverige och kriget). It features MopDukes’ cover of Ice Cube’s Good Cop, Bad Cop as well as The New Force Theme.

In addition, it uses retro-style cinematography techniques to transport the viewers to the 1950s time period. However, they got the right-hand drive vehicles in the show, which was historically wrong.

The performances by the leading stars, Josefin Asplund (Carin Eriksson), Agnes Rase (Siv Morell), and Malin Persson (Ingrid Gustafsson) are quite good.

We also liked the acting of Christopher Wagelin (Johan Reimer), Jimmy Lindström (Wallin) and Cilla Thorell (Jenny Berg). Overall, the entire ensemble cast did well.

Series Rating

Conclusion

The twists and turns in the story kept us engaged. We could correctly guess some of them. But we were not prepared for the shocking admission by the senior police officer Gunnar Svärd (Peter Eriksson) in the first season finale episode. At the end, these brave female cops stood up and became pioneers in their fields. Thereby, opening doors for the new generation of female cops. Also, there are so many unfinished storylines of these interesting characters. So, it seems that we might see its season two in future, unless Netflix decides to cancel it.

Anyway, to conclude, The New Force (Season 1/2025) series is a fairly decent period drama. In a way, it shows how far the women have come in the last few decades.

Still, there is a fair distance to travel to achieve complete gender equality. Or is it a mirage?

Key Details

Series Trailer

We could not find the Official Trailer for this series, so we are sharing an Instagram link - The New Force | Josefin Asplund, actress.

Lastly, read the FM Series Review of "The Bridge {Bron/Broen}" in our Focus Magazine. It is another drama from Sweden (Nordic tale).  

Poster and Featured Images of The New Force (Season 1/Sweden/2025) Series | Pictures Credit: Netflix.