Asta-Catrina Dahl (50) 

Asta-Catrina is a frail and repressed woman who has become a shadow of herself. She is already dead; a kind of ghost waiting to atone for her mistakes. She has not told the whole truth about her son's role in her husband's death, and has been worried about his behaviour, the older he got. Asta-Catrina believes she is a bad mother; that she has failed Anton, because she was weak and unable to protect him from his abusive father. She has therefore made him into what she thinks he is. But Asta-Catrina also thinks that she can save Anton; that in essence he is good and can be reasoned with. While Anton's father was alive, Asta-Catrina was equally convinced she could save him and reason with him, and that she was a bad wife who had somehow failed him. Asta-Catrina suffers from a form of agoraphobia; she prefers to be alone and is reluctant to leave her house. She also suffers from anxiety, depression, delusions and pathological lying. She has tried to commit suicide several times. She still lives in the country house that she shared with her late husband. She now fears for the life of her grandson, but because nobody believes her accusations, she feels that she must stop her son herself.

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Asta-Catrina er en skrøbelig og indestængt person, der er en skygge af sig selv. Hun er allerede død; et slags spøgelse, der venter på at sone for sine fejl. Hun har ikke fortalt hele sandheden om sin søns rolle i farens død, og har været bekymret for sønnens adfærd, jo ældre han blev. Asta-Catrina synes, hun er en dårlig mor; at hun har fejlet Anton, fordi hun var svag og ikke skærmede ham fra farens opførsel. Hun har derfor gjort ham til den, hun tror, han er. Men Asta-Catrina tror også, hun kan redde Anton; at han i bund og grund er god og kan "tales" til fornuft. Mens Antons voldelige far levede, var hun ligeså overbevist om, at han kunne reddes og "tales" til fornuft, og at hun var en dårlig hustru, der havde fejlet ham. Asta-Catrina lider af en form for agorafobi; hun vil gerne være alene og forlader nødigt sit hjem. Hun lider også af angst, depression og vrangsforestillinger, og hun har tendens til at lyve. Hun har prøvet at begå selvmord flere gange. Hun bor fortsat i landhuset, hun delte med sin mand. Hun frygter nu for sit barnebarns liv, men fordi ingen tror på hende, føler hun, hun er nødt til at stoppe sin søn selv.

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Anton Storm Dahl (30)

Anton's mother accuses Anton of being a psychopath who kills out of love. As a five-year-old he supposedly killed his father, and Asta-Catrina thinks that this made him realise that killing is not that hard. In either case, Anton witnessed the brutal death of his father and it would have affected him regardless. He was also witness to numerous incidents of domestic violence during his first five years of life: He has seen his father beat up his mother again and again and heard him threaten to beat Anton up too. Anton lives in the belief that people are either good (and defenceless) or bad (and dangerous). Therefore Asta-Catrina believes that Anton has regularly killed people who posed a threat to himself or his loved ones, such as ex-boyfriends of his girlfriends, bullies at school or rivals at work. Anton's latest victim is, according to Asta-Catrina, Ida's father, whose death everyone attributes to a freak accident. Anton stands to inherit his father-in-law's very large fortune, through Ida. He is the father of a baby boy, named Bertram, but feels insecure in his role as father to a son that he subconsciously sees as a rival to Ida's love and attention and who mirrors a younger, more frail version of himself back to Anton. A long time ago, Anton was the young son of an abusive father. Now Bertram is the young son of Anton which essentially places Anton in his father's shoes - an uncomfortable role he avoids. Anton has an insatiable need for affirmation and needs to constantly show the people he loves that he loves them - and they in return must do the same. This includes a ferocious appetite for sex. If Anton's loved ones disappoint him, they go from being "good" to being "bad", and Anton rejects them. Anton seems sincere and sensitive; he is charming, sympathetic and caring - which is inconsistent with the image of a cold-blooded, calculated psychopath who murders without conscience - which is what his mother accuses him of being.

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Anton anklages af sin mor for at være en psykopat, der myrder af kærlighed. Som 5-årig dræbte han efter sigende sin far, og Asta-Catrina mener, at han herved opdagede, at det ikke er svært at tage liv. Om han er skyldig eller ej, så har Anton været vidne til farens brutale død, og det ville have påvirket ham uanset. Han har også gennem sine fem korte leveår været vidne til gentagne tilfælde af hustruvold: Han har set sin far banke sin mor igen og igen, og har stået model til farens trusler om, at han selv skulle bankes. Anton lever i forestillingen om, at mennesker enten er gode (og forsvarsløse) eller onde (og farlige). Derfor mener Asta-Catrina, at Anton løbende har dræbt mennesker, der har udgjort en trussel overfor ham selv og/eller dem han elsker, såsom kæresters eks-kærester, mobbere i skolen, eller karriererivaler. Antons seneste offer er angiveligt Idas far, hvis død alle tror er en ulykke, og Anton er nu arvtager af svigerfars formue. Han er nybagt far til Bertram, men er utryg ved faderrollen overfor en søn, han ubevidst ser som en rival til Idas tid/opmærksomhed og som en spejling af et yngre, sårbart selv, hvilket gør voksne Anton til sin egen far - en ubehagelig indsigt, han prøver at undgå for alt i verden. Anton har et enormt behov for bekræftelse og skal hele tiden vise, at han elsker dem, han elsker (og omvendt). Dette inkluderer et stort sexbehov. Hvis Antons elskede skuffer ham, skifter de fra at være "gode" til "onde", og Anton skubber dem fra sig. Anton virker oprigtig og følsom; han er charmerende, sympatisk og omsorgsfuld - i direkte modstrid med imaget af den koldblodede, kalkulerede psykopat, der myrder uden samvittighed - som hans mor påstår, at han er.

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Ida Louise Rahbek Dahl (28)

Ida is innocence and goodness personified. She beams with beauty inside and out. She is a perfectionist and a pleaser who was overlooked by her father and pushed by her mother throughout childhood. She is the perfect princess, who is never a burden nor a hassle, but instead a trophy one can proudly display to the world. Ida loves Anton, because he gives her all the attention she craves and he defends her through thick and thin. He is the perfect son-in-law who can wrap her entire family around his little finger. She is utterly and completely under the spell of Anton and their very passionate relationship (a lot of sex = a lot of love). It isn't until Ida becomes a mother to Bertram that her strength and independence grow, and she slowly opens her eyes to certain truths, she would rather keep hidden.

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Ida er uskylden og godheden selv. Hun stråler af skønhed af den ydre og indre slags. Hun er en perfektionist og pleaser, der blev overset af far og pacet af mor gennem barndommen. Hun er den perfekte prinsesse, der ikke er til besvær, men som man stolt kan vise frem. Ida elsker Anton, fordi han giver hende al den opmærksomhed hun drømmer om. Han elsker hende som hun er og forsvarer hende i tykt og tyndt. Han er den perfekte svigersøn, der kan snøre hele familien om sin lillefinger. Derudover er hun helt under Antons og deres meget passionerede forholds fortryllelse (meget sex = meget kærlighed). Det er først som mor til Bertram, at hendes styrke og selvstændighed vokser, og hun langsomt får øjnene op for visse sandheder, hun helst vil feje under gulvtæppet.