It’s not just the inmates who are trapped in ‘Prisoner’

Denmark’s roughest prison is given three months to shape up or it’ll be shut down. For four of the guards, a dangerous job just turned deadly.

Two women and two men in uniforms stand in the middle of a crowd of men. Their blue uniforms stand out against the brown and grey colours of the others.

L-R, in uniform: David Dencik, Sofie Gråbøl, Charlotte Fich and Youssef Wayne Hvidtfeldt. Credit: DR Drama

Prisons are a rough place to be, even at the best of times. And for the Danish prison known as “The House”, the best of times was a long time ago. Run down, over-crowded, and holding the worst of the worst, the whole place is a powder keg set to explode.

Guards Miriam (Sofie Gråbøl from The Killing), Henrik (David Dencik), Gert (Charlotte Fich) and newcomer Sammi (Youssef Wayne Hvidtfeldt) know all too well that the only thing holding the prison together is a fragile truce. The officers and inmates have struck a deal that relies on both sides keeping their nose out of each other’s business. Now that is coming to an end, as the correctional service has started an investigation of the House.

A man in a guard uniform speaks into a handheld, while standing in a prison.

David Dencik in 'Prisoner'. Credit: Adam-Wallensten

The public is sick and tired of the drug dealing and crime that’s seemingly running riot within the prison walls, and new EU regulations require a more modern approach. If the staff can’t clean the prison up in the next few months, it’ll be shut down. No more steroids, loan sharks and drug dealing; the inmates who’ve been running the place will now be treated just like everyone else.

The result is a harsh crackdown, with constant raids on the prisoners’ cells designed to disrupt the old order and the flow of drugs into the prison. Not everyone agrees that’s the best way to go; if the old order kept the peace, who’s to say this new approach won’t unleash chaos?

Filmed on location in Vridsløselille prison outside Copenhagen, which was closed in 2018 following the construction of a more modern jail designed to prevent re-offending rather than punish the inmates, Prisoner is a gritty look at life behind bars that doesn’t pull its punches. But it’s when the guards leave the prison behind that the real drama begins.

Henrik and his family live in a run-down trailer that’s barely better than the cells he guards. Gert, the penitentiary chief, has a husband with dementia who acts like a prison guard at home. And Miriam’s only real human contact is with the thieves and murderers she walks amongst, while on the outside her son is little more than a stranger she can’t trust.

Miriam (Sofie Gråbøl). Credit: DR Drama / Adam-Wallensten

Gråbøl is used to playing characters with a strong commitment to what they feel is right. As detective Sarah Lund in The Killing, she was remorseless in tracking down a string of rapists and killers even as the search for justice brought her into conflict with those around her. There she played a character who could use the system to get results; here she’s playing someone who’s as trapped as the criminals she guards.

Despite her character’s grim job and chilly surroundings, Gråbøl’s performance here is a warmer, less driven one, but that only raises the stakes. Miriam’s the only guard left who still sees the prisoners as human beings, an approach which only serves to isolate her from her fellow officers. And the House isn’t a place where loners survive.

A young man in a prison guard uniform stands in a room with grey-blue walls. Several other staff in uniform can be seen behind him.

Sammi (Youssef Wayne Hvidtfeldt). Credit: DR Drama / Adam Wallensten

As for the others, newcomer Sammi rapidly reveals himself to be a hardliner. Henrik’s advice to him – that prisoners that smoke weed are calm prisoners – isn’t what he wants to hear (much like dope isn’t what he wants to smell during his shift). Henrik is happy to turn a blind eye to a lot of things for the sake of peace, but when violence does erupt he’s more than happy to dish it out. And Gert runs the prison on a “need to know” basis – as in, she doesn’t need to know anything but the bare minimum to keep a lid on things.

Gert (Charlotte Fich). Credit: DR Drama / Adam Wallensten

Sammi rapidly proves skilled when it comes to gaining intelligence on what the prisoners are up to (taking in a prisoner’s girlfriend as a rent-free tenant on the outside helps him get the inside scoop). Soon he’s able to direct his fellow guards to hit the gangs where it really hurt. But the more the prisoners suffer, the more desperate they get, and if they ever suspect who’s talking to the guards, there’s nothing they’ll stop at to get revenge.

The new hardline approach is the opposite of everything Miriam has worked for in the prison, but it’s on the outside that her kind heart proves to be a real weakness. Her drug addict son is deep in debt to some very dangerous types, but when she tries to handle his debt herself, her money’s worthless to them. Her job as a prison guard though, is something that just might make her very useful indeed to people who want things smuggled inside.

She’s used to walking a fine line. Now the path she’s on might ruin her life – or end it.

Prisoner is streaming now at SBS On Demand.