Upamanyu Biswas
In the Swedish action comedy ‘Trouble,‘ a divorced salesman named Conny finds himself trapped in a much larger conspiracy that threatens to upend his ordinary life. After a TV installation at a customer’s house leads to wrongful murder charges, Conny is sentenced to 18 years behind bars at the Granges Prison. From there, the protagonist must find ways to clear his name while navigating the complexities of prison life. When he falls in with two ruthless criminals who have their own schemes, Conny faces further complications. Although the Granges Prison is not for the faint of heart, it sets up several moments of amusement in Conny’s journey to reclaim his innocence! SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Fictional Ties of Granges Prison
‘Trouble’ is a fictional story based on a 1988 Swedish action movie that shares the same Swedish title as the Netflix remake: ‘Strul.’ As such, the plots in both movies resemble one another quite closely, including the presence of the prison where Conny gets locked up following his false verdict – Granges Prison. It is a fictional jail conceived by Bengt Palmers and Björn Skifs, who wrote the original movie’s script. In the remake, it is modernized in various ways by director Jon Holmberg and co-writer Tapio Leopold. As Conny comes from a relatively ordinary background, his introduction to the Granges prison environment is a shock to the protagonist. With time, he learns to acclimate to its atmosphere and the disturbing individuals who roam it.
While the prison is entirely fictional, HM Prison Lowdham Grange and HM Prison Kirklevington Grange in the United Kingdom share a similar name. They are both real-life men’s prisons operated by the HM Prison Service. Besides the superficial ties through their names, the Ganges Prison in the movie and the UK prisons have entirely different settings due to their geographical location on the map. The fictional prison offers a chance to shake up Conny’s luckless existence, albeit in a harsh way. Therefore, it was created with a specific narrative purpose in mind, which cannot be said for the real-life jails mentioned above. As filming for ‘Trouble’ took place in Stockholm, Sweden, the scenes featuring the Granges Prison were also shot in the capital city.
In the movie, Granges plays one of the most prominent roles out of all the locales because of how much time Conny spends in the place. One of the biggest things about it is the tunnel in the laundry room, through which the protagonist is able to sneak back and forth between prison life and the outside world. His strained relationship with his daughter motivates him to find some way to clear his name and escape the prison through legitimate means. However, despite his efforts to navigate its perilous halls and befriend the criminal element, the place is fictional and does not exist in reality.
Read More: Best Action Movies on Netflix
