One of Netflix’s Best Crime Thrillers Is Finally Back With a New Mystery
Five years after The Chestnut Man first arrived on Netflix, the acclaimed Danish crime thriller has returned with a new case, a new killer, and a disturbing twist on a familiar childhood game.
The Chestnut Man: Hide and Seek premiered globally on Netflix on May 7, 2026, with all six episodes released at once. The new season brings detectives Naia Thulin and Mark Hess back together, this time to investigate a series of killings connected to a sinister game of hide and seek and a chilling children’s rhyme.
The return is particularly notable because the original The Chestnut Man premiered on September 29, 2021. The five-year gap gives the sequel the opportunity to introduce an entirely new mystery while also exploring what has happened to its central characters since the first investigation.
Based on Søren Sveistrup’s follow-up novel Hide and Seek, the six-part series is designed as a standalone sequel. Viewers who remember the first season will recognize Thulin and Hess, but newcomers can also follow the new investigation without having to know every detail of the original case.
Why The Chestnut Man Stands Out Among Crime Thrillers
Netflix has built an extensive collection of crime and thriller series, ranging from political dramas such as The Diplomat to psychological thrillers such as You. But Nordic noir occupies a particularly distinctive place within the genre.
These stories tend to rely on bleak surroundings, complicated investigators, unsettling crimes, and mysteries that gradually reveal themselves rather than giving viewers easy answers. The Chestnut Man fits that tradition exceptionally well.
The first season centers on a serial killer who leaves small figures made from chestnuts at crime scenes. What initially appears to be a strange calling card becomes the key to a much larger and more disturbing investigation.
The series also benefits from the contrast between its two lead investigators. Naia Thulin approaches the case analytically, while Mark Hess brings a more impulsive and hot-headed energy to their partnership. Their differences give the investigation another layer beyond simply finding the killer.
The first season currently holds a 100% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, while its audience score stands at 83%, reflecting the strong reception the Danish thriller has received.
The show’s appeal comes from more than its central mystery. Its gloomy Scandinavian setting, grim subject matter, and gradual accumulation of clues create the kind of atmosphere associated with the best-known Nordic noir stories.
Hide and Seek Introduces a Completely New Case
The biggest change in the new season is the mystery itself.
Rather than bringing back the chestnut figures as the central clue, Hide and Seek follows a stalker who turns the children’s game of hide and seek into something far more sinister. Victims are watched and taunted before the killer makes their next move, with a nursery rhyme becoming an unsettling part of the threat.
The story begins when a woman disappears in Copenhagen. Investigators examining her digital footprint discover that she had apparently been stalked for months. The perpetrator had been monitoring her and sending her images, videos, and messages connected to a disturbing counting rhyme.
When the woman is eventually found murdered, investigators discover similarities to an earlier unsolved case involving a 17-year-old high school student who was killed two years previously. The question then becomes what connects the two victims and when the stalker will choose another person to target.
That gives the second season its own identity. The chestnut figures that defined the original mystery are gone, but the series retains the same basic ingredients: a disturbing killer, vulnerable victims, an increasingly complicated investigation, and clues that force Thulin and Hess deeper into the case.
Thulin and Hess Have Changed During the Five-Year Gap
The new investigation also gives the sequel more personal stakes.
Five years have passed since the first season, and the audience does not immediately know everything that has happened to Thulin and Hess during that time. Their professional relationship remains important, but their personal history has become considerably more complicated.
The two detectives once again have to work together despite the unresolved tension between them. Their relationship provides a second storyline running alongside the murder investigation, giving the sequel more emotional context than a straightforward police procedural.
Netflix describes the new series as a standalone sequel, but the returning characters remain an important connection to the original story. Danica Curcic returns as Naia Thulin, while Mikkel Boe Følsgaard reprises his role as Mark Hess. Sofie Gråbøl and Katinka Lærke Petersen also join them as Marie Holst and Sandra Lindstrøm, respectively.
The sequel also brings back Thulin’s daughter Le, played by Ester Birch Beck, adding another connection between the new story and the characters established in the first season.
A Six-Episode Nordic Noir Thriller Built for Binge-Watching
All six episodes of The Chestnut Man: Hide and Seek became available on Netflix on Thursday, May 7, making the series particularly easy to consume in one sitting.
That release strategy suits the show’s structure. Each episode adds another piece to the investigation while introducing new questions about the killer, the victims, and the connection between the cases.
The sequel also maintains the dark visual and emotional atmosphere that helped define the original. Netflix describes the story as unfolding in the gloomy outskirts of Copenhagen, where Thulin and Hess race against time as more victims become caught in the killer’s game.
Reviews have generally highlighted the season’s ability to preserve the unsettling qualities of the original while telling a new story. RogerEbert.com described it as a standalone sequel that continues many of the elements that made the first series successful, while Netflix’s own coverage emphasizes that viewers can approach the new case without having to treat it as a direct continuation of the first investigation.
That balance is important. Returning viewers get the benefit of already knowing Thulin and Hess, while the new case gives the season enough distance from the first story to function on its own.
The Chestnut Man: Hide and Seek Is Now Streaming on Netflix
For anyone who enjoys dark Scandinavian crime dramas, The Chestnut Man: Hide and Seek offers another six-episode mystery centered on a particularly unsettling premise.
The original series established its reputation with its chestnut figures, serial-killer investigation, bleak atmosphere, and complicated detective partnership. The sequel replaces those elements with stalking, surveillance, a disturbing nursery rhyme, and a deadly game of hide and seek.
The result is a new mystery that keeps the core identity of The Chestnut Man while giving Thulin and Hess a different case to solve.
All six episodes of The Chestnut Man: Hide and Seek are now streaming on Netflix. The series is based on Søren Sveistrup’s novel of the same name, with Dorte W. Høgh and Emilie Lebech Kaae returning as the main writers and creators.
Watch the Official Trailer
The official trailer from Netflix introduces the missing-woman investigation, the stalker at its center, and the reunion of Mark Hess and Naia Thulin.