"The Northman" an epic-scaled, enthrallingly brutish meal of a movie

The Northman (2022)

“The Northman” might be Robert Eggers’ most accessible film, and yet it never compromises itself as a Robert Eggers film, complete with old-world authenticity and forbidding weirdness. In “The Witch,” it felt like Eggers time-traveled back to 1630, New England for a masterfully moody witchy folktale. He then followed up that remarkable feature debut with the black-and-white nightmare “The Lighthouse,” where Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe’s lighthouse keepers descended into madness. Now, it’s Viking time with “The Northman,” an epic-scaled meal of myth and rage-fueled savagery.

Co-written by Eggers and Icelandic novelist Sjón (“Lamb”), this revenge odyssey is based on the Scandinavian legend said to have inspired Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” (perhaps you’ve heard of it). Instead of Prince Hamlet, we have Prince Amleth, played by Oscar Novak. He’s the son of War-Raven King Aurvandil (Ethan Hawke), whose homecoming to his boy and queen, Gudrún (Nicole Kidman), doesn’t last too long. First, the king and his court jester (Willem Dafoe, making the delirious most of his little screentime) initiate Amleth into a psychedelic ritual that calls for them to get in touch with their inner animal. Not long after, Amleth witnesses the brutal assassination of his father at the hands of his uncle, Fjölnir (Claes Bang). Growing up into Swedish adonis Alexander Skarsgård, Amleth joins a band of howling, raging berserkers who slaughter entire villages. Passing himself off as a slave, he insinuates himself back into his former kingdom where Fjölnir has now married Queen Gudrún, vowing to avenge his father’s murder, rescue his mother, and kill his uncle. Violence, of course, begets violence.

Lest one think an austere Norse legend won’t be for them, “The Northman” is too vivid to ever be dull, and Eggers proves he’s not humorless or above a fart joke. As one of our most accomplished and meticulous period filmmakers working today, Eggers does his due diligence every time (his first two films retained the Olde English and the old-salt dialect of their respective time periods). With a bigger budget here, Eggers never lets the blackened heart of his story get lost amid bloat or spectacle. Broken up into portentous chapter titles, the arduous 140-minute run time is occasionally felt, but Robert Eggers makes it his mission to make Amleth’s long, vengeance-seeking path feel methodically ruthless and earned, and that he does. Read the rest of the review at Phindie here.

Grade: B +

Focus Features is releasing “The Northman” (140 min.) in theaters on April 22, 2022.