Trapped (Icelandic TV series)

Plot

Series 1 is set in Seyðisfjörður, a remote town in eastern Iceland. In an introductory scene, Hjörtur and his girlfriend Dagný speed on a motorbike towards an abandoned factory, where they have created a secret hideaway, where they come to drink, smoke and have sex. When Hjörtur goes downstairs, he discovers that a fire has broken out. He desperately tries but fails to rescue Dagný from the flames.

Seven years later, a mutilated torso is caught in fishing nets just off the local harbour, shortly before the arrival of the ferry from Hirtshals in Denmark. Andri, the town's chief of police, starts the investigation with his staff of two junior officers, Hinrika and Ásgeir, while a blizzard sets in, preventing detectives from Reykjavík from reaching Seyðisfjörður.

The discovery of the torso is initially linked to someone aboard the ferry. Andri therefore orders that no-one may leave the vessel, pending the arrival of the investigation team from Reykjavík. However, the passengers, frustrated by the delay in disembarkation, are eventually allowed off the ship after ferry captain Søren Carlsen shuts down the heating system in the hope of avoiding a police investigation on board. Jonas Malakauskas, a Lithuanian criminal involved in people trafficking, manages to escape from the ferry driving a campervan, where he has imprisoned Joy, a Nigerian girl, and her younger sister Nishadi. Jonas crashes the vehicle and flees on foot, but is quickly captured. The girls find refuge at Hinrika's home.

Meanwhile, the torso is stolen from the fish factory where it was being stored, and Jonas escapes from a police cell but is found dead after crashing a stolen police car. After a photo of the torso is posted on Twitter, Hjörtur – one of those who was aboard the ferry – is arrested. He admits to posting the tweet but denies stealing the body, and is later released when a further body part is found in the harbour together with a receipt which shows that the dead man was never on the ferry.

Local officials, led by former police chief Hrafn Eysteinsson and politician Friðrik Davíðsson, are trying to tempt the locals to sell their land with a view to Chinese investment in the port, which is met by strong opposition from Guðmundur, an old fisherman and hunter. Guðmundur warns Hrafn about the likelihood of an avalanche and sets off with dynamite to try to draw the snow down safely. His son, Sigurður, tries to stop him, and Andri follows, but the charge, though initially successful, sets off a second avalanche which engulfs all three men. Guðmundur dies of heart failure while locals attempt a rescue, and the avalanche results in the temporary loss of power to the community. Hinrika, cut off by the weather, goes to the house of Rögnvaldur, a disabled man who spends much of his time observing others through a telescope. He tells her that he has seen Hrafn beating his wife. Later, when Hrafn is burned to death in his garden shed, with the door locked from the outside, Hinrika questions his widow, Kolbrún, who admits she did not get on with her husband.

Ásgeir comes across a camera containing a short film of Sigurður quarrelling with a man named Geirmundur, who is believed to be the murder victim; When the police try to question Sigurður, he runs away. They follow him to his boat in the harbour, where they find the missing torso in the hold. Sigurður, apparently in a catatonic state, offers no explanation.

The weather having cleared sufficiently for the detective team to arrive from Reykjavik, the investigation is taken over by Trausti, a former colleague of Andri. Ignoring Andri's request for Sigurður to be seen by a doctor, Trausti forces a confession and announces he has solved the murders. Sigurður is to be taken to Reykjavik by helicopter, but suddenly opens the emergency exit and jumps to his death. Andri writes a report for his superiors, highlighting the errors made during Trausti's investigation; Ásgeir leaks the contents to a journalist, resulting in an enquiry, to be led by Andri.

In the meantime, Hinrika continues the investigation of the people-trafficking operation, and Captain Carlsen is arrested. A crew member reveals that the Faroese "engineer" is in fact controlling the captain, and the captain agrees to cooperate with Andri provided that his family in Denmark receives police protection. The engineer is captured, and warns Andri that the murders are nothing to do with him, implying that there are bigger criminals operating in the town. It becomes apparent that Guðni, the hotel manager, is acquainted with the engineer and involved in the trafficking. However, Andri is shocked at the chance discovery that his father-in-law, Eirikur, has in his possession the key to Hrafn's shed padlock. On being confronted with the evidence, Eirikur confesses to having set fire to the shed when he realised that Hrafn and his colleagues had caused the fire in which his daughter Dagný died so that they could claim the insurance payout.

Andri and Hinrika learn from Rögnvaldur that Geirmundur had a car, and they eventually find it, leading to the discovery that Geirmundur was the absent father of Maggi, the grandchild of Leifur, the proprietor of the fish factory. Geirmundur had raped Maria, but in exchange for not pressing charges Hrafn makes a deal that Geirmundur will burn down the fish factory and leave town. Andri coaxes Maggi's mother, Maria, into confessing that she killed Geirmundur in self-defence after he came looking for Maggi and attacked her. Her father and his friends, including Guðni and Sigurður, then disposed of the body. Guðni, cornered in the fish factory, tries to escape by threatening Andri and Leifur with a gun and locking them in the deep freeze. He shoots Ásgeir who has come to assist and threatens to harm Maggi if Hinrika does not allow him to go free. Andri sets off the fire alarm in the freezer which releases the door, and Hinrika and Andri finally arrest Guðni.

Production

RVK Studios is the production company behind the series. The executive producer and screenwriter is Sigurjón Kjartansson and the series is produced by Baltasar Kormákur and Magnus V. Sigurdsson. The plot is based on an original idea by Baltasar Kormákur who also directed episodes 1 and 10. The remaining episodes were directed by Baldvin Z (2, 3, and 4), Óskar Thor Axelsson (5, 7, and 8), and Börkur Sigthorsson (6 and 9). Golden Globe winner Jóhann Jóhannsson composed the music for the series.

Dagblaðið Vísir reported on 2 May 2015 that Trapped is the most expensive television series ever made in Iceland, with overall costs estimated to be about 1,000,000,000 kr (€6,500,000). Before this, most Icelandic television series rarely exceeded production costs of 100–200,000,000 kr. Creative Europe also supported the project with 75,000,000 kr.

The series' 10 episodes were mainly filmed in Siglufjörður between January and May 2015, with some scenes also filmed in Reykjavík in December 2014.

Broadcast

The first episode was screened at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on 20 September, as part of the festival's new Primetime platform of selected television projects.

Trapped was first aired on RÚV on 27 December 2015, and broadcasting rights have since been sold to several countries. It first aired on NRK1 in Norway on 18 January 2016 with the title Innesperret, and on Yle Fem in Finland on 2 February with the titles Fångade (Swedish) and Loukussa (Finnish).

It first aired on BBC Four in the United Kingdom on 13 February and on RTÉ2 in Ireland on 21 February, both with the title Trapped.

The show will also air on France 2 in France and, starting on 19 February 2017, on ZDF in Germany.

In Australia, the SBS On Demand online streaming service released the full first season of Trapped on 16 June 2016. Episodes started airing on SBS One on 30 November 2016.

In Poland, Ale Kino+ began airing the series in double episodes on 7 September 2016.

In Denmark, DR2 began airing the series in double episodes on 30 November 2016, using the title 'Fanget'.

In the United States, Viceland began airing the series on 19 February 2017.

In Belgium, Canvas (Belgium) began airing the series on 11 March 2017.