The Northman – A Brutal Viking Epic (Early Review)

“Elevated horror” has been a trend throughout the 2010s, and has produced some of the best films the horror genre has ever seen. One of the filmmakers often associated with the classification, is Robert Eggers. His directorial debut, The Witch, was a monumental moment for A24 and placed Eggers on the map, but it was his sophomore effort The Lighthouse that established him as one of the most important filmmakers working today. Despite being fairly avant-garde, The Lighthouse seeped its way into pop culture and became a topic of conversation. While the film is certainly not for everyone, it is so singular and bizarre that it is not difficult to understand why it became an instant cult-sensation. The studio heads at Focus Features took notice and gave Eggers a budget of $70 million to create his latest film, The Northman.

Set during the Viking era, The Northman stars Alexander Skarsgård as Amieth, the son of King Aurvandill (Ethan Hawke) and Queen Gudrún (Kidman). As a child, Amieth watched his mother get captured and his father fall at the hands of his uncle Fjölnir (Bang). Ever since that day, Amieth vowed to avenge his father, save his mother, and restore his kingdom. From there, he sets out on a quest through Iceland, where he meets a sorceress named Olga (Taylor-Joy). Feeling a strong connection to Olga and experiencing for the first time, the two must first join forces to finish his quest for revenge before they can start a life together.

When an independent auteur makes their transition into studio filmmaking, they sometimes have difficulty adjusting their style for wider audiences, and can lose some of their artistic sensibilities. That is certainly not the case with Eggers. The Northman provides more of a spectacle with a slightly more linear narrative than his previous work but it is just as heady and eccentric. Through the film, Eggers once again draws upon his fascination with Nordic folktales, transporting audiences to the Viking age. Staying true to the era, it explores the brutality that Vikings endured in graphic detail.

One of the standout elements of Eggers’ work is the cinematography. Working once again with DP Jarin Blaschke, he creates his most visually beautiful work yet. Every frame is overflowing with detail, capturing the vastness of Iceland. The film begs to be seen on the biggest screen possible, as the two clearly put a lot of care into making the film feel epic in scope.

While narratively the film doesn’t stray too far away from other films in the same vein, its exploration of man’s thirst for revenge and the cycle of hatred add a level of depth that Eggers previous films have not had. One complaint that some have had about Eggers’ work is that his films are often void of any emotion whatsoever. While The Northman is certainly cold, its protagonists are complex human beings for whom audiences can connect to on some level.

Skarsgård’s turn as Amieth is a career-best as he delivers a ferocious and physical performance worthy of Oscar consideration where he fully commits through his transformation into a Viking. Meanwhile, he has palatable chemistry with Taylor-Joy’s Olga, one of her most interesting roles to date. Outside of Skarsgård, Kidman’s Queen Gudrún steals the show within a particular moment that was deeply disturbing, yet fascinating at the time. Hawke as King Aurvandill, Willem Dafoe as Heimir the Fool, and Bjork as Seeress also all get to chew some scenery with showy supporting roles.

In the end, The Northman marks another triumph for Robert Eggers. His most accessible film to date, it is also his most ambitious and thematically complex. He proves that he is well suited for big budget films and hopefully studios give him the opportunity to continue making them in the future.

still courtesy of Focus Features

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Where to watch The Northman

Tristan French