Created by Swedish crime author Camilla Läckberg, Netflix’s new miniseries The Glass Dome (Glaskupan in Swedish) is a taut, often quite gripping psychological thriller. It works as both a twisty kidnapping crime saga with a lot of moving parts and fleshed-out characters, and as a tactful, skillfully performed meditation on the long-lasting and intergenerational effects of trauma. Fans of thriller procedural fare like The Silence of the Lambs and Prisoners are likely to find plenty to enjoy in a six-part series that’s often surprising, never dull, and ultimately rather satisfying in the way whodunits should always aspire to be.
What Is ‘The Glass Dome’ About?

Léonie Vincent stars as Lejla Ness, a criminologist who lives in close contact and affection with her adoptive father, Valter (Johan Hedenberg). Valter still resides in the small, isolated, and intimately socially connected Swedish village of Granås. In the opening moments of the show, we see a glimpse into Lejla’s tortured past. As a child, she was abducted and confined in a glass cage for weeks, her only contact with a shadowy figure whose identity she never learned. Young Lejla fortunately escaped from this peril, though many of the details remain somewhat distorted and nebulous for both her and for us.
Years later, adult Lejla has channeled this haunted event, along with her uncommonly savvy, somewhat wolf-like instincts, into the aforementioned vocation and purpose. The Glass Dome is a non-linear affair with heavy flashbacks; the present-day series of events commences shortly after a death in Lejla’s family. Following a somber memorial service with at least one or two low-key suspicious events on the sidelines, a child goes missing under circumstances that are highly similar to what Lejla endured all those years ago. Is this the same perpetrator resurfacing for a similar crime many years later? Is a copycat potentially a part of this equation? Are the events completely unconnected? The latter would certainly seem improbable.
With the help of Valter and local law enforcement, Lejla is forced to revisit a trauma that all but threatens to entirely define her life (even some of the locals still recognize and refer to her as the “girl in the box” well into her adult years), as surely she’s got the best chance at solving the most recent disappearance. The Glass Dome is, all things considered, about evenly as much about the crime and the hunt as it is about Lejla confronting her demons. The missing girl is a tween named Alicia (Minoo Andacheh), daughter of Lejla’s friend Louise (Gina-Lee Fahlén Ronander). Obviously, this is all intensely personal.

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‘The Glass Dome’ Is an Absorbing and Satisfying Whodunit

Image via Netflix

The Glass Dome establishes and explores an impressive sense of place within six episodes, thanks certainly to chilly and forbidding, yet quite kinetic cinematography throughout — also in the way the show hurls us into its web of intertwined small-town relationships, all of them really believable in their baggage. Among the more captivating faces — and, given the nature of this genre — suspects, are local law enforcement officers, spearheaded by the intense, often adversarial Tomas (Johan Rheborg). What ensues is a tightly connected procedural with no shortage of red herrings and twists.
Without giving any spoilers at all, the plot here mostly works and moves quite well from start to finish. The final stretches, however, perhaps ask a lot of the audience. It would be a stretch, not entirely accurate, to call anything outright contrived here, but it’s worth noting the show starts stronger than it finishes. It’s well-performed all across the board, though; every major character here is fleshed out to a satisfying degree by the end of the finale.

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‘The Glass Dome’ Benefits from a Compelling Central Performance

Image via Netflix 

Vincent really is excellent here, in an understated but thoroughly gripping lead role. Lejla is tormented by the psychological impact of the past, and of course by the unresolved nature of the ordeal. She pushes her food around her plate at every meal; she’s in constant motion. The actress, who’s previously appeared in the series Faithless and Springfloden, delivers an understated turn that isn’t all that expressive, but still gives the audience the impression that this is a person who constantly has fireworks going off in her head. The smart scripts by Amanda Högberg and Axel Stjärne are certainly interested in the supporting characters here, but Lejla is in a substantial majority of the scenes, and she’s more interesting than the hunt for the kidnapper. The Glass Dome is certainly a thriller, but it’s just as easily classifiable as a psychological drama; a lot of the best and most gripping elements involve the protagonist’s struggles with her unresolved past and a present that’s full of loss, and quite a bit of gaslighting.
It’s a marvelous and magnetic turn that could hopefully be a calling card for the actress. The Glass Dome is effective at what it sets out to do; it might have been even more memorable if we’d had more time with Lejla. This enterprise certainly gets the job done as a whodunit, but it’s more tantalizing as a character study; it’s at its most gripping when we’re in Lejla’s head.

The Glass Dome

The Glass Dome is a taut and highly bingeable whodunit kidnapping thriller series, with a head-turning performance from Léonie Vincent.

Release Date

April 15, 2025

Pros & Cons

Léonie Vincent is a superb, understated lead.
The Glass Dome establishes a highly impressive sense of place through strong direction and well-drawn, interconnected supporting characters.
This is a whodunit that’s genuinely unpredictable, frequently thrilling, and ultimately satisfying.

The Glass Dome premieres April 15 on Netflix.