A suspected pharmaceutical scandal, unscrupulous lawyers and tough investigators with heart form the basis for the fourth "crime scene" from Zurich. Read here whether there is an exciting case behind the accumulation of clichés.
What is happening?
Their fourth case together leads Zurich detectives Ott (Carol Schuler) and Grandjean (Anna Pieri Zuercher) to the trail of a drug scandal. The trigger is the murder of the star lawyer Corrinne Perrault (Sabine Timoteo), who represented the up-and-coming pharmaceutical company Argon in the launch of a new and extremely expensive miracle pill called Volmelia. The drug is intended to help patients with the autoimmune disease NMO, but is suspected of causing worsening of symptoms after therapy.
Apparently this is also the case with Klara Canetti (Anouk Petri), who has been in a wheelchair since being treated with Volmelia. Her mother Dorit (Annina Butterworth) tries desperately to prove that the drug caused the complications. Meanwhile, Argon fears that the pill will not be approved and wants to stop the Canettis. But at what price?
What is it really about?
There is no second level in "Risks with Side Effects", the film delivers exactly what it promises: a pharmaceutical thriller according to the formula.
Zapp-Moment?
There are some. Definitely at the forefront: Grandjean's rap interludes guaranteed to be ashamed of others and the desperate attempts to establish the canton police's IT expert as a funny sidekick.
Wow-Factor?
The pictures of Lake Zurich are really beautiful to look at. In general: The camera does a good job in this "crime scene".
How is it?
5 out of 10 points. "Risks With Side Effects" delivers 90 minutes of investigative work between cool skyscrapers (the pharmaceutical company), wood-panelled townhouses (the law firm) and gray apartment buildings (the victims of the pharmaceutical industry). The narrative paths are as worn as the visual ones: the film tries again and again to loosen up the classic David-versus-Goliath structure with a few changes of perspective, but it succeeds rather badly than well.
