The Northman

Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Bjork

Director: Robert Eggers

After a series of conquests, King Aurvandill War-Raven (Hawke) can't wait to spend time with his wife Queen Gudrun (Kidman) and son Amleth (Skarsgård) who will become his successor. After King Aurvandill is betrayed and murdered by his jealous brother Fjolnir (Bang), Amleth goes on the run vowing revenge on Fjolnir, who takes over the kingdom and marries Queen Gudrun. Years pass and Amleth (Skarsgard) grows up to be a berserker for a group of vicious Vikings. After taking over a village, Amleth learns that Fjolnir was overthrown and now lives in Iceland. Disguising himself as a slave, he infiltrates Fjolnir's farm and along with fellow slave Olga (Taylor-Joy) plans how he will carry out his revenge.

The movie is a gorgeous, brutal retelling of Hamlet and not for everyone. Robert Eggers is an incredible filmmaker, with an impressive eye for detail. He first showed this in his debut The Witch (which also starred Anya Taylor-Joy) and even more impressively with his follow-up The Lighthouse. I think he takes it even further here, with his affection and reverence for Norse myths and legends put to spectacular use. Given a huge budget, Eggers runs wild with some impressive visuals on display including a psychedelic ritual and a stunning one-take where the Vikings take over a village. He also relishes in the brutality of not only the time but the characters as well.

I mentioned this was a brutal movie and I mean it, with the aforementioned one-take village massacre to close-ups of swords cutting off heads or stabbing people in the face, There are also several jaw-dropping and seriously bonkers scenes wrapped around a revenge plot. Amleth has a vision of his revenge with a seer played by Bjork. We are also treated to a fantastic scene where Amleth has to retrieve a sword that will help him in his quest for revenge. He ends up in a fight with an undead knight that is brutal and visually creative. Eggers even decides to end the film in a half-naked sword fight on top of a volcano. We even get a scene with a Valkyrie carrying a soul to Valhalla.

This is one of my favorite scores in a film in recent memory. Robert Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough have created a powerful and immersive score that is a perfect complement to the events transpiring in the film.

Alexander Skarsgård transforms himself for this movie. He is not only believable as a Viking berserker but as someone capable of disguising himself for revenge. His chemistry with Anya Taylor-Joy is fantastic and their relationship helps ground the movie in its brutality. Claes Bang is imposing as Fjolnir and feels like a very formidable foe to Skarsgard. Nicole Kidman is good but I wish we could have seen a little more of her character in the early stages, as her husband is murdered and she marries his brother. There is a rich character dynamic there that I feel like we missed out on.

Eggers continues to build on an impressive resume and The Northman is no exception. Eggers has a brilliant eye for detail and never shies away from brutality. I feel like this is a movie that can only get better on a rewatch.

Grade: B