A new and exciting Netflix series, Katla, is set to release on June 17th, with eight episodes making up the first season.
What is Netflix’s ‘Katla’ about?
It is the first original Icelandic series produced by Netflix and focuses on the small, southern town of Vík í Mýrdal one year after an eruption at nearby Katla volcano turned the residents’ lives upside down.
The series was developed by Icelandic writer and director Baltasar Kormákur, the creative mind behind the local detective series, Trapped (2015) and the Hollywood blockbuster Everest (2015), among other things.
- Read more about Kormákur’s work in New ‘Trapped’ series to premiere on Netflix in 2021
Check out the trailer for Katla below!
Katla’s official trailer is a spooky, atmospheric insight into the series, offering small glimpses of rising ash clouds alight with white lightning, crashing waves on a black-pebble beach, and lonely farmhouses stricken with wind and snow.
From the trailer alone, it appears Katla shares many visual traits with Kormákur’s previous work, namely epic landscape shots and people cornered and confined by both nature and their dire circumstances.
Is Katla volcano really dangerous?
Katla volcano makes for a particularly ominous subject given its fearsome reputation among the residents of the South Coast. The last great explosion at the volcano occurred in 822 AD and is said to have caused widespread famine and plague across Europe and beyond.
- Learn more in our feature article; Everything You Need to Know About Volcanoes in Iceland
Given these violent outbursts throughout the centuries, the volcano has played a prominent and villainous roles in many stories and folktales, and to this day, is thought to be overdue for an eruption. Let us hope that this new Netflix series remains firmly in the fiction category for some time to come!
Filming for the series began in early 2020, but like so many other productions, was suspended in light of new restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic. When shooting resumed at the end of the year, it was with a much smaller crew who all adhered to the new social-distancing measures.
Can I visit a volcano in Iceland?
Of course, the Covid-19 pandemic would not be the only world event that would come to have some connection with the series. As it so happens, anyone aware of Icelandic news will have heard that a very real volcanic eruption is currently taking place on West Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula.
While the series premiere might seem coincidental, Fagragdalsfjall is considered safe to visit, as its eruption is in no way comparable to how large and potentially cataclysmic an eruption at Katla would be. In fact, the site has recently been featured in a music video by the Icelandic band, Kaleo.
If you’re hoping to see the new volcano for yourself, make sure to check out our great day-tour: Hike to Erupting Volcano | Small-Group Tour with Free Photos
Katla stars some of the biggest household names in Iceland, including firm local favourite, Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, and Guðrún Ýr Eyfjörð, who is perhaps better known by her musical alias, GDRN. Other performers in the series include: Þorsteinn Bachmann, Sólveig Arnarsdóttir, Valter Skarsgård and Aliette Opheim.
Make sure to tune into Katla on June 17th and let us know in the comments what you think!
