Seemingly mundane yet important: The forest’s role in Netflix’s <i>Young Royals</i>

This article demonstrates how the seemingly mundane Swedish forest functions as a key spatial frame driving the narrative in a Swedish youth drama. Even though the forest is an uncommented part of the characters’ lifeworlds, it still affects the storyline by enabling key developments that would be improbable in other spatial frames. We demonstrate how the forest can be understood as a subtle border, a safe space, a place for unexpected meetings, and a venue for well-being. By tracing these themes, we argue that the forest is an uncommented spatial frame that advances plot and exposes tensions about class and identity in contemporary teen TV.