As the demand for true-crime documentaries grows, HBO is preparing to tell another frightening tale with Undercurrent: The Disappearance of Kim Wall. The two-part documentary, directed by Emmy nominee Erin Lee Carr, is about the disappearance of Swedish journalist Kim Wall after she boarded a submarine with self-taught engineer Peter Madsen. Before HBO’s forthcoming documentary, here’s everything viewers need to know about the heinous case.
Peter Madsen’s relationship with Kim Wall
Peter Madsen was a self-taught engineer from Denmark who wowed many with his abilities and zeal for ocean research and space flight. He referred to himself as an “entrepreneur” and was nothing short of a superstar. He gained prominence with the debut of his crowd-funded submarine, the UC3 Nautilus, in 2018, which was touted as the world’s largest privately-built submarine. That exact submarine became a crime scene, leading to Madsen’s conviction for murder. He was arrested in 2018 in connection with the heinous murder of Kim Wall, a noted freelance journalist whose corpse was discovered mutilated after she boarded the Nautilus to interview him.
What happened to Kim Wall, and where is Peter now?
In 2017, Swedish journalist Kim Wall was killed in a submarine after boarding to interview the submarine’s owner, Peter Madsen. According to The Independent, she perished inside Madsen’s homemade submarine and was only supposed to stay on board for two hours, but she never made it back to dry ground alive.
In the following days, parts of Wall’s fragmented corpse were discovered in Kge Bay in Copenhagen. When Madsen was caught, he presented contradictory explanations for Wall’s death, including that he’d dropped the submarine door on her head and buried her at sea since that was the nautical custom. Peter Madsen was accused of premeditated murder, aggravated sexual assault, and desecrating a body, according to The Guardian. He was found guilty on all three counts and sentenced to prison. In 2020, he attempted to flee jail after threatening a guard with a pistol-like device but was apprehended by police.
More on HBO’s Undercurrent: Kim Wall’s Disappearance
HBO’s newest true-crime documentary, Undercurrent: The Disappearance of Kim Wall, will be released on March 8. The story will revolve around the titular journalist who went missing in 2017. Earlier this week, a trailer for the film was published. The film will be divided into two sections, The Crime, and Punishment. The first segment focuses on Wall’s disappearance, including her final communications and friends, family, and the public’s search efforts. The second section will cover the specifics of Madsen’s trial, including how the media covered it.
The documentary will include trial testimony, expert opinions, further Wall and Madsen interviews, and new Madsen audio. Navy commanders, police officers, journalists, oceanographers, and others associated with Wall comment on the documentary. Both sections of the documentary will air back-to-back on HBO on Tuesday, March 8 at 9.00 p.m. ET/PT. The documentary will also be available to watch on HBO Max.
