The Northman

In recent years, Robert Eggers has established himself as one of modern cinema’s most unique voices. Beginning with the Puritan horror of The Witch and then progressing to the hallucinogenic machismo of The Lighthouse, his films tend to live long in one’s memory. His latest, an uber-violent Nordic revenge fantasy, is no different.

The Northman is Eggers’ own take on the Norse myth that inspired Hamlet, and the parallels with the Shakespearian masterpiece are apparent from the film’s opening moments. It’s there that we see King Aurvandill War-Raven (Ethan Hawke) betrayed by his brother Fjölnir (Claes Bang), causing the former’s heir Amleth to flee his kingdom and setting in motion a long-gestating quest for vengeance.

Unsurprisingly, Amleth grows us to be an aggressive so-and-so with a penchant for bloody murder. He is played in adult form by Alexander Skarsgård, here rocking abs and traps that are impressive enough to be the envy of even the most seasoned gym rat. In a hyper-physical performance, the Swede perfectly depicts rage personified and ensures the ferocious action of The Northman remains anchored by an emotive story that you wish to see resolved.

Eggers naturally brings his own directorial flair to proceedings, which helps his film refrain from being merely an arthouse version of 300. Both he and Jarin Blaschke do a fine job of transforming rural Northern Ireland into the Nordic valleys of yesteryear, imbuing The Northman with an aesthetic that belies its bestial events.

While it’s debatable whether this is Eggers’ best work, it’s certainly his most ambitious. In cast and scale alone, this is befitting of the term blockbuster. And, though much may feel familiar, it serves as a reminder that the myths of old can be just as rewarding as newfangled tales of today. Unless you’re especially queasy, in which case you might want to give this a miss.