My final term paper: Exit, Behind closed doors

For my final term paper I decided to write about the Norwegian TV show Exit. I chose this show because I think both the cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing and storyline is very well thought out and executed. Therefore I decided to take a closer look through a close textual analysis.

The first season of the TV show aired in 2019 and the second season in 2021. Øystein Karlsen was both the screenwriter and the director of the show, and the production company was FremtaleMedia. They received multiple awards and it became the most viewed TV show on NRK of all time with over 1 million views, which is a lot considering that just under 5.5 million people live in Norway.

In the show, we follow the four multimillionaires, Adam, Jeppe, Henrik, and William. They are all extremely wealthy and successful men working in finance. From the outside it appears that they have it all figured out, living luxurious lives with happy, picture-perfect families, however, this is just a facade. Behind closed doors, they meet up and have parties where they cheat on their wives with hookers and do multiple types of drugs. In addition to seeing how they all act when they are together, we get to deep dive into each of the characters’ personal lives, which are filled with domestic violence, mental health issues, and substance abuse. In season two we also get to see how they are able to accumulate the amount of money they have by committing fraud when buying stock. What’s interesting about this storyline is that most of the events are based on true stories collected by interviewing anonymous people that are currently working in finance in Norway.

Through amazing cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing, and audio this story is told flawlessly. The way the show is made really lets the audience travel to a different world and we get to see the life of a multimillionaire behind the façade which is why I chose it for my final term paper.