A Norwegian prison of almost unrelenting grimness, Devil's Island makes Skull Island look like your local Butlins. There may not be any giant bone-crushing apes at large but we'd probably take one of them over a mean and moody Stellan Skarsgård in this new trailer for King Of Devil's Island.
Shades of Sleepers perhaps? Like Barry Levinson's drama it's based loosely on a real events. The setting is the remote Norwegian island of Bastoy, a real prison that housed delinquent boys between the ages of 11 and 18 in the early 20th century. Here it's run with a fist of iron by Skarsgård's chef screw; which presumably means the kids will be subjected to Enya day and night.
Fed up with being little more than slave labour, kept in icy privation and regulary beaten, the young inmates snap and revolt against their tormentors. As the trailer indicates, this brings them all into serious jeopardy from the brutal powers-the-be.
King Of Devil's Island has been waiting for a UK release for a year or so, but director Marius Holst's drama is finally landing with us on June 29. Expect pin-sharp cinematography, thought-provoking subject matter and ice... lots of ice. Hopefully no Enya, though.
