Trapped (Icelandic: Ófærð) is an Icelandic television mystery drama series, created by Baltasar Kormákur and produced by RVK Studios. It was broadcast in Iceland on 27 December 2015 on RÚV.[1] Co-written by Sigurjón Kjartansson and Clive Bradley, the first series of ten episodes follows Andri Ólafsson (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson), the chief of police in a remote town in Iceland, solving the murder of a former townsman whose mutilated corpse is recovered by fishermen. The series was directed by Kormákur, Baldvin Z, Óskar Thor Axelsson and Börkur Sigthorsson.
Golden Globe winner Jóhann Jóhannsson with Hildur Gudnadóttir and Rutger Hoedemaekers composed the music. Sigurjón Kjartansson acted as executive producer, alongside Kormákur and Magnus V. Sigurdsson as producers. 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 ISK (€6,500,000 EUR). Before this, most Icelandic television series rarely exceeded production costs of 100–200,000,000 ISK.[2]RVK Studios provided most of the funding, while Creative Europe also supported the project with 75,000,000 ISK. Filming for the first series took place in Siglufjörður, Seyðisfjörður and Reykjavík between December 2014 and May 2015.[2][3][4]
The series received its worldwide premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 20 September 2015. It has since been sold to numerous broadcasters across the world, including the BBC, which began screening it in the United Kingdom on BBC Four on 13 February 2016.[5]The Weinstein Company announced it had purchased the US distribution rights in September 2015.[6]
In September 2016, RÚV announced that a ten-episode second series had been commissioned for broadcast in late 2018 featuring the same lead characters.[7] Principal photography for the second series began in October 2017 in Siglufjörður. The first episode was premiered on RÚV on 26 December 2018,[8] and broadcast on BBC Four during February/March 2019, with two episodes being shown back-to-back.
Although early work on a third series was already underway by December 2018,[9] with filming commencing in September 2020,[10] the third series did not premiere on RÚV until 17 October 2021.[11] It was released internationally on Netflix under the title Entrapped on 8 September 2022, edited into six episodes, compared to the original eight.[12]
Jóhann Kristófer Stefánsson as Ívar, a member an Icelandic cult called The Family whose murder is the catalyst for the season's investigation; previously Andri had suspected his involvement in the disappearance of his then-girlfriend Lina
Haraldur Stefánsson as Gunnar the estranged son of Oddur Jacobson, patriarch of The Family, and a former friend of Ivar. A member of his uncle's Hopper biker gang The Horns
Thomas Bo Larsen as Danish Hopper, the violent leader of the biker gang The Horns; also wanted for his role in a methamphetamine racket
Egill Ólafsson as Oddur Jacobson, a naturalist and leader of the cult, The Family; father of Gunnar
Christina M Goldstein as Lina, a missing girl; the sister of Bergur and former girlfriend of Ivar
Friðrik Róbertsson as Flosi, a young, misguided member of Gunnar's biker gang
The first episode received its worldwide premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on 20 September 2015, as part of the festival's new Primetime platform of selected television projects.[14] The first series began broadcasting on RÚV in Iceland on 27 December 2015, and broadcasting rights have since been sold to several countries. The series commenced on NRK1 in Norway on 18 January 2016, under the title Innesperret, and on Yle Fem in Finland on 2 February under the titles Fångade (Swedish) and Loukussa (Finnish).[15][16] The series first aired on BBC Four in the United Kingdom on 13 February and on RTÉ2 in Ireland on 21 February under the title Trapped.[17][18][19]
The series has also aired on France 2 in France, and on ZDF in Germany. In Australia, SBS on Demand released the first season for streaming on 16 June 2016, followed by a televisual broadcast on SBS One on 30 November 2016.[20] In Poland, Ale Kino+ began broadcasting the series on 7 September 2016, airing two episodes per week, back-to-back.[21] In Denmark, DR2 began broadcasting the series on 30 November 2016, airing two episodes per week, back-to-back, under the title Fanget.[22]
In the United States, Viceland began broadcasting the first season on 19 February 2017, and the second season premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 10 July 2019. In Belgium, Canvas began broadcasting the series on 11 March 2017. In Portugal, RTP2 began broadcasting the series under the title Encurralados on 13 October 2017. In the Czech Republic, ČT2 began broadcasting the series under the title V Pasti on 12 January 2018.[23] In Italy, TIMvision made the first series available on demand from 5 February 2018.
^ abGylfason, Atli Már (5 May 2015). "Dýrasta sería Íslandssögunnar" [The most expensive series in Icelandic history]. DV (in Icelandic). Archived from the original on 5 February 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
^"Tökur á "Ófærð" hafnar á Siglufirði" ["Trapped" filming in Siglufjörður harbor]. Klapptré (in Icelandic). 24 January 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.