‘The Fortress’: A Norwegian Export About the Danger of Closed Borders

In “The Fortress,” a new series about pandemic, isolationism and government corruption, something is rotten in the state of Norway. The year is 2037, and the country has spent the last decade cut off from the rest of the world, behind a wall of its own making. When a deadly virus sweeps through the land, the prime minister blames refugees for bringing the illness to an insulated paradise.

But in this case, the menace is a domestic breed. And the government will do anything to cover up its origins.

A sociopolitical thriller and a parable, “The Fortress,” a seven-part Norwegian series, made its American debut on Tuesday, the latest in a wave of Scandinavian dramas cresting on American shores in recent years that tend to be brainy, rooted in reality and, yes, chilly. (This one is available on Viaplay.)

It is also timely — dystopian and futuristic but only just, playing off the rising tide of isolationism in Europe and around the world in these post-pandemic, post-Brexit, “build the wall” times.

“Our main theme is that to solve the world’s problems, everybody needs everybody,” said John Kare Raake, a co-creator of the show and its lead writer, in a video interview from his home in Oslo. “We can’t just say, ‘That’s not our problem.’ We have to work together and decide that we can relate to problems in other countries that are not at our doorstep.”

With a star-filled cast and an award-winning script (it won best screenplay last year at the Series Mania festival in Europe), “The Fortress” is a high-profile venture for Viaplay, a Swedish-based streamer that made its North American debut only last year. The show’s assortment of characters representing the different strata of Norwegian society are played by some heavy hitters of international drama.