In the Norwegian series La Palma, a family’s tropical Christmas vacation is cut short by a volcanic eruption that triggers the largest tsunami in history. Directed by Kasper Barfoed (The Nurse), this disaster drama also follows the geological researchers and government officials who sound the alarm about the world’s worst natural disaster. So, does everyone succumb to the earthquakes, eruptions, and tsunami? Does anyone make it off the Spanish island unscathed? Read on to find out who lives to tell the tale.

Who’s in the cast of La Palma? 

Check out this guide to read about the cast and characters. 

What happens in La Palma?

Despite a fatal boat accident off La Palma’s coast, everything else in the tropical locale appears hunky-dory. That is, until researchers Marie (Thea Sofie Loch Næss) and Haukur (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) visit the island’s volatile and active volcano, which last erupted in 2021. Marie notices there’s much more rainwater coming down the mountain — last time she visited, everything was bone dry — and Haukur sees dead bats all over the ground. That’s … odd, right? After their mountain check-in, they inform their boss, Álvaro (Jorge de Juan), but he doesn’t take it well. Turns out, last time he made a call to warn islanders of an impending eruption, he was mistaken, and it pissed off a lot of the wrong people. 

At the resort where Fredrik (Anders Baasmo Christiansen) and Jennifer (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) are staying with their kids — teen Sara (Alma Günther) and her younger brother, Tobias (Bernard Storm Lager) — things are not going well. Fredrik is jealous that his wife seems to be flirting with the concierge; Sara is struggling with her feelings toward a fellow vacationer, Charlie (Jenny Evensen); and Tobias is having trouble adjusting to his surroundings. Well, it’s about to get much worse: The volcano, which has already begun cracking the mountain apart, just started erupting ash. And that fatal accident on the boat earlier? It was caused by gas bubbling up through the ocean, a precursor to volcanic eruption. Even the sea turtles, witnessed by Marie’s recreational diver brother, Erik (Amund Harboe), are all swimming away. 

But Fredrik and his family don’t quite realize all that yet — not until Sara, feeling fragile after Charlie snapped at her, leaves to catch a plane home. The ash eruption begins just as the plane takes off, causing it to crash and burn. Luckily, we find out Sara departed the plane at the last minute, after Charlie texts her an apology. Love saves lives, folks! For now. 

Marie and Haukur are injured when the mountain they’re hiking spews ash, landing them in the hospital. While Marie is relatively unharmed, Haukur is placed in an induced coma. Now Marie sets off to find her brother before the imminent volcanic eruption creates a rock slide that’ll cause a globally catastrophic tsunami. But Marie’s bad luck continues: She gets thrown in jail for unintentionally hitting a police officer after Erik is nearly arrested for being disorderly. Escape will have to wait. 

Jens (Thorbjørn Harr), Jennifer’s brother who works in Norway at the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, warns his sister to get on the next ferry to La Palma’s sister island, Tenerife, in the next few minutes. The family steals a hotel shuttle, and everyone makes it on the ferry except Fredrik, who’s held up by the two angry men whose vehicle he stole. A bit later, he manages to get on a small boat, but ends up giving his seat to a woman and her infant child. Once again, he’s stranded. 

At long last, after Álvaro pleads with the government to demand an evacuation order, they listen. As the mandatory evacuation begins, Haukur wakes up from his coma to the surrounding chaos. Knowing he can’t get on a boat in time, he heads to the geological institute to speak with Álvaro, and the two decide to take one last trip to the mountain as the volcano erupts — for real this time. Everyone on the island looks up in horror. The unthinkable is happening. 

At the La Palma jail, Erik breaks his sister out after the officers flee. As the siblings run through the streets, they come across Fredrik, who says the only way off the island is to find a boat — and there are seemingly none left. Thankfully, Erik leads them to the boat he used for his diving excursion the other day, but as they arrive, an armed man attempts to steal it. A tussle ensues, and the gunman shoots and kills Erik. After Fredrik fights and drowns the gunman, Marie and Fredrik head to Tenerife.

How does La Palma end?

A researcher named Hugo Berg (Benjamin Lønne Røsler) shows up at Jens’ office with critical info: Per Hugo’s numerical modeling of tsunami waves, there’s a potential “safe spot” on Tenerife where the waves will cancel each other out and people may survive. When Jens’ boss says they can’t tell people to go there because they’ll be liable if anyone dies, Jens defies her by hijacking a press conference and announcing the safe spot’s coordinates. After security hauls him off, Jens texts Fredrik the coordinates. With the wave coming ever closer, Fredrik and Marie, having docked in Tenerife, hop back in the boat and head toward safety. 

Up on the mountain on La Palma, Haukur and Álvaro put on protective suits and climb toward the eruption. As the land shifts beneath them, they fall into the earth and are swallowed by lava.

Sara and Charlie make it onto the plane to Tenerife, but Jennifer and Tobias don’t — they left the plane to look for Sara minutes ago. Charlie gets an alert about the coordinates, though, and Sara shares them with her mom. So Jennifer and Tobias head there via van with some airport employees as the wave descends. As the earth breaks apart underneath the runway, the plane comes to a halt just before the wave crashes down on it, submerging all passengers. Miraculously, Sara survives and so does Charlie, after some life-saving CPR. As the pair emerge from the plane, they see that everything around them is destroyed.

Right as Marie and Fredrik get to the safe spot, the two waves converge and offset each other, just as Hugo calculated. Marie and Fredrik make it to shore, where they find others who survived. Among them are Jennifer and Tobias. 

As news reports come in, they reveal that the Canary Islands were largely decimated, and West Africa and Southern Europe were damaged. Now, both North and South America must brace for impact. At home in Norway, Jens hears a knock at the door. It’s his co-worker Karin (Iselin Shumba Skjævesland). Because of Jens, hundreds fled to the safe spot and all of them survived. To his great relief, Karin tells him his sister is among the survivors.

A helicopter drops Sara and Charlie at the safe spot, where Sara reunites with her family. As they hug, Fredrik looks to Marie, and Marie nods in understanding. (This is the second natural disaster in which she’s lost family members. The first, a major flood when she was young, killed her parents.) The scene fades to black, then flashes back to Erik as he dives in the water to swim with sea turtles. We hear his voice telling Marie that turtles are older than dinosaurs. “They know they have to do something when it’s no longer safe,” he says. “So if we’re gonna survive as long as they have, we have to start listening.”

“To what?” Marie says. Erik responds: “To nature.”

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