Common Sense Media Review
By Jose Solis
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Drinking, smoking, and some language in Swedish fraud docu.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Inside the Trustor Scandal
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
INSIDE THE TRUSTOR SCANDAL revisits the 1997 Trustor affair, still the largest financial crime in Swedish history. Five men bought the publicly traded investment company Trustor AB, and within three months it became clear they had paid for the company with the company's own money. Around 600 million kronor left the accounts. Swedish director Karin af Klintberg pieces together the takeover using 1990s news footage and new interviews with the men who were there and with the journalist whose questions first drew attention to the deal. At the center is Joachim Posener, named as the mastermind, who disappeared before he could be arrested and stayed out of reach of the Swedish police and Interpol for close to 30 years. After two years of secret meetings, af Klintberg gets him in front of a camera.
Is It Any Good?
A great get is not the same thing as a great film. Inside the Trustor Scandal is built around one, an interview with Joachim Posener after 30 years of silence, and director Karin af Klintberg structures it so that viewers learn as she learns. Posener has one takeaway to offer: Life on the run is expensive. He's also a practiced liar, and watching him arrange his face for a camera plays closer to cable news than documentary. Af Klintberg handles that by staying a step ahead, letting him talk and then correcting him afterward. She's fascinated by him but never lets him run the show.
The money gets explained in terms anyone can follow, which is the genuinely disturbing part. Five men walked 600 million kronor out of a public company because they found a gap in how a purchase gets paid for, and af Klintberg makes the gap look small enough to step through. Shareholders and the people who lost everything stay off-screen. Without them, the thing takes the shape of a caper. The awe the film expresses is unmistakable, and it enjoys Posener's company more than his victims ever could.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about why the men in Inside the Trustor Scandal agreed to sit for these interviews after so many years of silence. Does explaining yourself on camera count as taking responsibility?
Ferrari cars and Louis Vuitton fill the archival footage. Why do stories about financial crime so often make the spending look glamorous, and how does that shape the way viewers judge the people doing it?
Gunnar Lindstedt started asking questions before the authorities did. Who keeps watch over large sums of money, and what happens when there are fewer reporters around to do that work?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : August 5, 2026
- Cast : Joachim Posener , Gunnar Lindstedt , Thomas Jisander
- Director : Karin af Klintberg
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Documentary
- Run time : 102 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 2, 2026
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