🇮🇸 Entrapped 🇮🇸
Entrapped aka Ófærð (2022) is a sequel to the Icelandic series Trapped available on Netflix internationally. 6 x 39-52 minute episodes. In Icelandic, Danish and English with English language subtitles available.
Premise:
“… two years after the ending of the second season. Police duo Andri and Hinrika, get drawn into a war in the remote highlands, where two rival groups fight over specific pieces of land, but for very different reasons.
The neopagan and peaceful sect, The Extended Family, led by its founder and spiritual leader Oddur (Egill Ólafsson) has raised camp on the land, see the land as sacred and want to be close to their heathen Gods. A group of Icelandic bikers, led by an angry young man, Gunnar (Haraldur Stefánsson), also claim the ‘sacred site’. In order to take ownership of the land, he calls for backup and soon a group of Danish bikers arrive by ferry, led by the Danish leader, Hopper (Bo Larsen). The clash of the two groups leads to the death of a young man, Ivar (Auðunn Lúthersson). It turns out that Ivar was not unknown to Andri, so he feels obliged to join Hinrika in the North to investigate the murder case.” The Killing Times
Cast:
Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Andri Ólafsson
Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir as Hinrika Kristjánsdóttir
Thomas Bo Larsen as Hopper
Maria Thelma Smáradóttir as Elísabet
Íris Tanya Flygenring as Freya
Haraldur Stefansson as Gunnar
Hannes Óli Ágústsson as Baby Lars
Egill Ólafsson as Oddur
Arnar Dan as Harald
Crew:
Writers: Clive Bradley, Sigurjón Kjartansson, Baltasar Kormákur, Sonja Moyersoen, Klaus Zimmermann
Director: Baltasar Kormákur
Composer: Rutger Hoedemaekers
Cinematographer: Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson
Editor: Sigurður Eyþórsson
Notes:
Trapped seasons 1 and 2 are available on Prime Video in the U.K. and US with a Prime subscription. They are also available to buy in the U.K. on Prime Video, Sky Store and AppleTV. In Australia SBS to stream and AppleTV to buy. In Canada, the show is already on Netflix.
The name Entrapped only applies to Netflix as the streaming platform was a co-producer of this season.
There are parts cut from Entrapped compared to season 3 which aired in Iceland earlier, these include references to the earlier series (rights) and other, presumably, non-vital scenes.
Locations: Iceland, specifically Siglufjörður, Hafnarfjörður, Seyðisfjörður, Egilsstaðir, and Reykjavík.
Review:
As a fan of Baltasar Kormákur’s work (I love his “eye”) and having enjoyed season 1 of Trapped a great deal (less so season 2 but it was still a decent enough watch) I was all geared up to watch season 3 as soon as I saw that it was in production. Well, it’s been quite a wait all in all, including the almost year since it aired in Iceland, but here it is, with a slightly different title (see notes above) but the same main cast and much of the same production team. Was I a teeny bit excited to watch? Bet your life I was. So, what did I make of Entrapped once I had watched it and had time to let it percolate.
Overall, I enjoyed this season on Netflix. The storyline was, to be sure, less of a slow burn than in previous seasons but I did not dislike that it was shorter, sharper and generally punchier. It still had enough focus on the main story progressing with interesting subplots which all tied together by the end very well, I thought.
Now, the ending may not be what some people may have wanted, especially those who may have invested in the “is there romance on the horizon for Andrí?” part. For me, however, the ending felt “right” in that it brings the story to a close without anything seeming out of character. I would however have liked more of an emotional punch to the gut, it was not exactly a happy ending but it didn’t impact me as much as I thought it might do.
I loved the acting, all the acting in this, and for the most part the dialogue too. The use of “show not tell” was well employed and the characters all seemed “real”. I also very much appreciated the use of tiny touches of humour, particularly nearer the beginning; let’s face it, Nordic shows are not exactly renowned for raising a smile (or even a laugh!)
Thomas Bo Larsen was perfect as the thoroughly nasty Danish Hopper (see, humour!) and I must confess a little cheer may have escaped from my lips when he met his demise.
Go, go Henrika! I just love her character and, honestly, sometimes she is the only grown-up in the room.
This whole season had a far less “Nordic noir” atmosphere. This was partly to do with the season in which the events occur. And I must mention the colour palette and design. The colour palette here, the oranges, reds, browns, ash black etc. reminded me of Katla (2021) another Baltasar Kormákur production. I loved that it was not full of washed-out greys, blues and white.
I mentioned the director’s eye near the start of this review and I honestly think that both the direction and the cinematography in this are very classy. From the fantastic aerial photography to the water and everything in between.
The locations! This is how you use locations! The landscape of Iceland, the towns, the sea, and the boats (everything) are visually stunning in this show. And how the colours of the locations are picked up with the design and even costuming – quality!
From the wonderful original music of the opening credits, which I was so pleased that they have kept and adapted to fit, to the music and sound design this is an impressive production. I felt that the music and sound were used extremely well to help create atmosphere and tension.
A lot of this season was about family, not only blood-related family but those who are like family albeit not related. There are the obvious father-son relationships, an adoption, a man who never sees his kids, another who seems to have had no real family at all and another who ultimately does come to save his son. To these, we can add the religious cult which is like a family to its members and as an apparent contrast (but oh so very similar in many ways) the biker gang. All these have father figures. I have seen comments about this season being less appealing because it’s about a cult, but… it really isn’t about that at all. It should also make us think about the relative roles of women and girls and how they are treated and respected, or not.
There were parts of Entrapped that were exciting and tense. I did find the final episode a bit squashed and although the pace was exciting it all ended up feeling a bit rushed. As I said previously the emotional impact of various events towards the end didn’t quite have the effect I would have liked them to.
Overall I enjoyed Entrapped and thought it brought something a bit new to the table with the storyline and a very decent end to the tale of Andrí.
P.S. To get the most out of Entrapped I strongly recommend watching the first 2 seasons of Trapped beforehand.
Trailer:
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