The Northman (2022)
Director: Robert Eggers
Screenwriters: Sjón, Robert Eggers
Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Ethan Hawke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Gustav Lindh, Elliot Rose, Willem Dafoe, Björk
Robert Eggers’ third feature, The Northman (2022), is an unflinching, visually sumptuous reimagining of the Norse revenge saga. Drawing on the mythic rhythms of stories that inspired Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” the film follows Amleth, a prince whose father is murdered by his brother. Forced to flee as a child, Amleth returns years later disguised as a slave, intent on avenging his father and freeing his mother. The narrative is elemental: fate, blood, and retribution drive every beat of the story.
Visually the film is extraordinary. Eggers teams with cinematographer Jarin Blaschke to create images that are often painterly and strikingly composed; each frame feels deliberately arranged, with a stillness and scale that underline the mythic quality of the tale. The production design and costumes place the viewer in a visceral, tactile world where weather and landscape act almost like characters. Sound design and the droning score further immerse the audience in the film’s bleak, ceremonial atmosphere, reinforcing the sense that this is a ritual as much as a story.
The cast largely succeeds in serving the film’s heightened tone. Alexander Skarsgård embodies Amleth’s brooding intensity and physicality, committing to the role’s relentless drive toward vengeance. Claes Bang effectively plays the treacherous uncle, delivering a cold, calculated antagonist. Anya Taylor-Joy provides occasional sparks of warmth and humanity that lighten otherwise relentless darkness. Nicole Kidman, cast as Queen Gudrún, gives a committed performance, though her accent and moments of restraint can make her feel slightly out of step with the film’s larger-than-life style.
Eggers’ direction favors long takes and careful choreography, which gives battle sequences and ritual scenes the feeling of staged tableau. This approach produces some thrilling set pieces—scenes of combat and spectacle that linger in the memory—but it also creates a degree of distance between the audience and the characters’ inner lives. The film often asks viewers to observe and reflect rather than to be swept up in raw emotional identification. For many, that contemplative distance will feel appropriate to the source material’s sense of fate and inevitability; for others, it may reduce the immediacy of the drama.
Where The Northman excels is in its uncompromising commitment to a mythic aesthetic. The film is steeped in ritual, landscape, and the elemental forces of nature. It embraces archetype and spectacle, preferring the sweep of legend over smaller, intimate moments. That can be both a strength and a limitation: the story’s arc is familiar, and much of what unfolds is predictable by design. Yet predictability does not equal dullness here; instead, the film’s power comes from how these ancient beats are presented—through haunting imagery, brutal physicality, and an atmosphere that feels both pagan and operatic.
There are a few missteps. At times stylistic precision overshadows character nuance, and a longing remains for a deeper emotional connection to some figures on screen. The film’s pacing and formal rigor can also make moments feel overly choreographed, keeping the viewer in the role of spectator rather than participant. Still, when Eggers delivers on spectacle—such as a memorable, fiery duel on volcanic slopes—the results are unforgettable in their intensity and visual ambition.
Ultimately, The Northman is a bold, often overwhelming cinematic achievement. It demonstrates Eggers’ continued growth as an auteur who is unafraid to tackle grand themes with a singular visual voice. While it may not reach the rarefied level of an absolute masterpiece for every viewer, it stands as a powerful, arresting work that plays like an ancient saga realized on a modern scale. Its combination of craft, atmosphere, and raw physicality makes it a distinct film that rewards big-screen viewing.
Rating: 19/24
