Filming begins on series about vigilante targeting sex offenders

Filming starts on Friday on Vigilant, a television series based on Skúli Sigurðsson’s crime novel Stóri bróðir, about a man who takes justice into his own hands. Actor Ólafur Darri Ólafsson is leading the scriptwriting, mbl.is reported.

In an interview on mbl.is’s Dagmál programme, Sigurðsson said the story opens with a brutal assault that a journalist later recognises as part of a wider pattern. Every few weeks, a man is beaten, with no clear explanation. Gradually, it emerges that the victims are sex offenders who have not been convicted.

The violence escalates, and people soon fear that someone will be murdered.

Sigurðsson worked as a journalist at Morgunblaðið from 2008 to 2011 and said he drew heavily on that experience when writing the book. He said it helped him picture the newsroom and its working methods.

Ólafur Darri said he was drawn to the book on his first reading, both by its form, which includes social media such as Twitter, and by its themes. He said its questions remain relevant, pointing to news reports about sentences expiring because prisons lack space, meaning people do not serve the punishments imposed by courts.

He said the book raises important questions about issues society continues to struggle with and had provided fertile ground for a television series.