Iceland: Trapped Brings the Best of Nordic Mystery to Icelandic TV

Seyðisfjörður.

You will probably want to know how to pronounce that name. It goes something like this: Seidisfordor! Sei-dis-for-dor! Don’t worry about the accent; what matters is knowing that the small village in northeastern Iceland is one of the most beautiful places you will ever see. Well, that is if you like mountains, fjords, lakes, and a whole lot of ice. Seyðisfjörður has just over 600 inhabitants, is a port town surrounded by the Bjólfur and Strandartindur mountains, and is stunningly beautiful. It mainly attracts tourists seeking tranquility. The town is one of the stops on Route 1, the road that circles the country. And it lies about 680 km from the capital Reykjavik.

In summer, it gets up to 20 hours of sunlight, perfect for adventure trips. In July, temperatures can reach 15°C, and many people take the chance to camp, take a balloon ride, climb volcanoes, watch the northern lights outdoors, learn to dive and kayak, visit museums and cafés, and enjoy the town’s cultural scene: in August, they say excitement takes over the place because of the famous Seyðisfjörður Festival. (Well, famous at least to them there!).

In winter the story changes a bit, with average temperatures around -5°C, the village becomes rather inhospitable. Access is hampered by snowstorms and the risk of avalanches on the roads, while transport boats usually only run when the weather allows and with limited destinations: Denmark and the Faroe Islands. The nights also seem endless, interrupted only by the bright northern lights. The colorful wooden houses contrast with the persistent white of the ice.

It is in this picturesque and strangely charming place that Trapped (in Icelandic, Ófærð, in English roughly “Trapped”) is set, the Icelandic series everyone is talking about. Not only because it is Iceland’s most expensive TV production (each episode cost around 6 million euros!), but because of the firmness and delicacy of a story that has everything to become another Nordic hit in the vein of Bron/Broen.

The beauty of Seyðisfjörður is an invitation from the very first scene of the series, when Hjörtur and his girlfriend Dagný ride a motorcycle down the road leading to town. The young couple hides in an abandoned warehouse to drink, smoke and make love. Their reckless romantic plan ends in tragedy when a fire kills Dagný.

Seven years later, a mutilated torso is found caught in a fishing net by a boat near the town harbor. At the same time, a ferry coming from Denmark docks at the port. The mystery starts there. How did that body end up at the bottom of the sea? Could the crime have something to do with Dagný’s death? Apparently not, as soon as the town’s police chief, Andri (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson), starts investigating the case, the suspicion is that the killer may be on the Danish ferry. But the girl’s death has an intimate connection to the officer, since she was the sister of his ex-wife, the mother of Andri’s two daughters.

Amid his family drama, Andri must deal with the arrival of Agnes and her new boyfriend in town, while facing a major deadlock. Fans of international law will enjoy knowing that the plot takes the laws into account, which only adds to the story, since Andri has no jurisdiction over the vessel. And the ship’s captain is anything but cooperative. The officer then orders the captain to keep the ferry in port and the passengers to stay aboard until the crime can be investigated.

Meanwhile, a heavy snowstorm prevents the authorities from the capital Reykjavik from reaching the town, so the crew and passengers of the ship end up “trapped” in Seyðisfjörður. But the story does not end there, as local police find a human trafficker among the passengers, and the criminal manages to escape from the ship. Because of the blizzard, no one leaves the village, neither the locals, nor the “new residents,” nor the killer.

The series makes full use of Iceland’s natural beauty, but that is not a bad thing, since the local geography seems tied to the plot. You can see it in the show’s opening, which compares Iceland’s icy fjords and plains to the human body. The frozen torso found at the bottom of the sea seems to speak directly to the residents of the small village, and the forced “visitors” from the ship — suspects in the crime until proven otherwise — will shake up the town’s dynamics.

What will happen when winter is over?

If you feel like watching the series, just take a look at the trailer for Trapped. The subtitles are in English, but it is worth it.

Trapped premiered in late 2015 in Iceland and has been airing on BBC Four since February this year. The first season will have 10 episodes, 52 minutes each. The series was directed by Baltasar Kormákur, known for the film Everest.