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Plot Summary: Prince Amleth is on the verge of becoming a man when his father is brutally murdered by his uncle, who kidnaps the boy's mother. Two decades later, Amleth is now a Viking who raids Slavic villages. He soon meets a seeress who reminds him of his vow -- save his mother, kill his uncle, avenge his father.

Director: Robert Eggers

Writers: Sjón, Robert Eggers

Runtime: 2 hours 16 min

• Alexander Skarsgård as Amleth
• Nicole Kidman as Queen Gudrún
• Claes Bang as Fjölnir The Brotherless
• Ethan Hawke as King Aurvandil War-Raven
• Anya Taylor-Joy as Olga of the Birth Forest
• Willem Dafoe as Heimir The Fool

Review by: Sam

This is not your run-of-the-mill tale of revenge. I’m sure it will appeal to some but general audiences may not love it. I say that just to say that you need to be prepared for the type of film this is- not insanely heavy on action with elements of the art-house film genre thrown in. So, if you are expecting something like Netflix’s “The Last Kingdom” (as I was), you may be left wanting. However, there is still a good amount to appreciate.

What I Liked:

The cast is full of A-list star talent that did not disappoint. Once I started watching, I actually felt as if I was transported to 9th-century Iceland. Headlining the cast is Alexander Skarsgård who plays the vengeful heir, Amleth.

Once Amleth returns to his home to seek his revenge, there is not a scene in which he is not present so we see pretty much everything through his eyes; and, this is not a character that spends much time expressing himself through dialogue. This is very much NOT an exposition dump of a film (which is also appreciated). Amleth is full of hatred and he doesn’t need to speak it for you to understand. The constant look of vengeance in his eyes sells you on the idea that he has ONE goal, and the movie cannot end until it is fulfilled. I truly appreciated the monologues he would say to himself in private as he cursed his enemies – it draws you further in to the film because it felt so raw and real. If you think about it, people with revenge on their minds aren’t going around talking about it much so I appreciated the angle the movie took with this oft-silent character.

I also appreciated the visuals for the most part – there are a lot of calls to Norse mythology here so Amleth often has visions that he perceives as sent by the gods. These moments appear as dream sequences and the VFX aren’t over-utilized but instead make for moments worthy of wallpapers (with the exception of a Valkyrie that had braces…that was just weird).

Speaking of visuals, I also appreciated the use of natural lighting in this film for the most part. Everything Is illuminated by flames or torches at night and by sunlight during the day so our vision as the viewer is just as good (or bad) as that of the characters. Again, this helps draw you in to the realism of the film.

Finally, the third act, when Amleth begins his revenge is very fun to watch. Most of the deaths he causes are incredibly brutal which just further shows how deep his hatred runs. His mother, played wonderfully by Nicole Kidman, and his love interest, also played beautifully by Anya Taylor-Joy, are more featured in this act and have their characters much more developed. So it actually feels like this act is where the movie truly begins, and the pace doesn’t let up.

What I Didn’t Like:

Exiting the theater, I heard someone describe the film as “weird,” and I get it. As I said, the main protagonist doesn’t really speak so the dream sequences don’t make much sense to anyone but him so a viewer could be left wondering what it was they just watched. Outside of that, a major problem with this film is it feels like it wants to be artful enough to be Oscar bait but also action-oriented to draw in general audiences, but it never fully commits to either leaving a movie that feels oddly inconsistent. For example, the wonderful third act begins with a brutal murder involving limbs being cut off and hanged for public view. But when the action switches to fight scene involving blades, there isn’t a drop of blood shown leaving the bodies- the camera even cuts away as a throat is being sliced almost as if it went from an R to PG-13 rating. I’m not saying I needed a bloodbath but the switch in tone is often and noticeable.

Additionally, the movie doesn’t do a great job of making you care about the main character. You see his motivation for revenge in the beginning so you sympathize, but because he is so quiet and reserved it doesn’t leave room for a personality you can relate to. This is kind of a double-edged sword as I acknowledged I appreciated his silence a stern determination in the name of realism, but it does come at the cost of character development for Amleth.

Also, I mentioned how I loved the third act, but before that the movie was a bit boring. It’s not like that all that time was spent for set-up either. There was a lot of time spent just showing us life on the farmland (where the film takes place) and people howling like wolves to unlock the beast inside of them. It wasn’t the most tedious thing you’ve seen, but it did drag on a bit before Amleth decided it was time to go take vengeance.