‘The Northman’ Review: A Historical Epic That Thrives Between Two Worlds
It can’t be denied The Northman is a Robert Eggers feature, but how does it fare as a potential blood-soaked crowd-pleaser?
With a budget sitting around the $70 million mark and unsurprising critical acclaim that has created sizable waves on social media, The Northman should be an undisputable hit, yet it’s failed to crack the top 3 at the United States’ box office during its opening weekend. And right now, its total tally hasn’t even hit $25 million yet. We definitely can’t blame the film’s qualities and overall accessibility, as I’ll explain in a bit, so it’s time to look at Universal’s lackluster marketing campaign, which was kind of drowned out by April competitors that weren’t too big either. It feels like they bet everything on social media buzz doing all the lifting in order to avoid spending too much on a historical epic — the genre hasn’t been profitable outside streaming in recent years — but it appears that general audiences weren’t too aware of a film billed as “Gladiator with Vikings.”
To be honest, that description isn’t wrong at all. The Northman tackles the Scandinavian legend of Amleth, a forsaken prince who exacts revenge on his uncle for killing his father. This story sounds awfully familiar because you’ve seen it countless times before. After all, William Shakespeare used it as direct inspiration for Hamlet, and we all know how influential for Western fiction Shakespeare was. The rest is history. That being said, Eggers’ brutal journey throws a number of curveballs at the audience, and his stylistic choices make for a revenge film with more than enough unique features to stand the test of time. As the credits rolled, I was pretty sure this will be considered a modern classic sooner rather than later.
As poor as the overall marketing push for the film has been, I must say the trailers and spots did a pretty good job of selling it without spoiling the best bits. Moreover, there are plenty of misdirects in them, something that, in my case, definitely paid off when the film reached its midpoint and entered (mostly) previously unseen territory. Within the larger, predictable by design, narrative, the twists and turns are very well executed, surely throwing off spectators who aren’t familiar with the source material. The Northman was written by Robert Eggers and Icelandic poet and novelist Sjón — the filmmaker’s style can be felt all over the rock-solid text and tight pacing, but Sjón certainly added the much-needed Icelandic flavor to the second half of the film, which packs quite a bit of folklore and deep dives into the Icelandic culture of the 10th century.
One of the key characteristics of Eggers’ filmography is how authentic his historical settings feel regardless of the scale of the story at hand. The man does his homework and surrounds himself with experts that definitely push his stories in more specific directions. He isn’t afraid to go deep, and the results speak for themselves — The Northman might not be a horror film (The Witch) nor a psychological thriller (The Lighthouse), but it’s every bit as absorbing… without even getting into the actual plot. For a couple of hours, you travel back in time, and nothing breaks that spell.
You might think The Northman mostly follows angry buff dudes running through forests while axing soldiers in the chest. That’s true… only for a few minutes. As I mentioned before, the marketing only deals with the most eye-catching sequences in the film (at least for general audiences). Then it gets more intimate while still delivering bloody thrills and tons of badassery. It also occasionally dabbles in horror, taking advantage of its signature Viking brutality. It’s a mean and dirty film — comparisons to The Revenant are apt — that remains elegant at all times. And that’s no easy feat. Even more difficult is how Eggers balanced going full-on “arthouse” weird (several times) and striking with precision that “epic revenge film” spot. Sure, folks who want a simple riff on Gladiator and similar films may feel disconnected during its more personal scenes, and those who wrongfully think it’s just two hours of Viking-themed mysticality will walk out disappointed, but the filmmaker and the studio tried to eat both cakes… and utterly succeeded.
Unsurprisingly, the entire cast shines with the time they’re given, which isn’t a lot in some cases; Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe exit early on, but completely chew up the scenes they’re in, and their presence is felt throughout the entire thing. Having closely followed Eggers’ career, I simply believe he’s great at conveying what he wants to capture while letting the actors come up with the best possible versions of the characters. Dafoe’s freaky jester is unequivocally Dafoe’s; Hawke brings his signature calmness to King Aurvandil, but isn’t afraid to go off the rails when the script calls for it; Alexander Skarsgård takes advantage of his physicality over words; and so on. Great stuff all around. More complex are the performances by Nicole Kidman, who gets to have lots of nuanced fun, Anya Taylor-Joy, a youthful yet wise woman, and Claes Bang, whose Fjölnir might be one of the finest bad guys in recent memory. Without getting into spoilers, things get shakier than expected as the plot seemingly stabilizes and then drops off a cliff. As a result, the morality of it all becomes greyer, and a good chunk of the cast suddenly has more tools to play with. And it’s super fun to watch unfold. As a bonus, look out for cameos by singer Björk plus A24 veterans Kate Dickie and Ralph Ineson (who starred in The Witch).
On the technical side of things, we find DP Jarin Blaschke once again returning besides Eggers to capture some of the harshest and bleakest environments you’ve ever seen on the big screen. The Northman is, however, a vibrant film instead of a depressing, washed out photograph of Viking times. The cinematography always feels very naturalistic and clean, even when things get dark and/or trippy. Even more impressive is the original score by Robin Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough, which skillfully vibrates between haunting and epic with astounding ease. You’ve probably read many tweets and articles begging you to seek the finest screen nearby, but, trust me, look for a proper sound system as well. Both the music and sound editing in this are out of this world.
In conclusion, Eggers’ latest is a film I’d easily recommend to anyone who isn’t grossed out by gory violence (it does get rough). It goes to odd, deeply spiritual places, but its mud-caked feet are always on solid ground, plus it constantly takes big swings on a remarkable scale while clearly stating how much revenge ultimately sucks. Mind you, it’s not a bump-less ride; pacing early on feels awkward, with some obvious cuts made to get the body of the story going as soon as possible. But yes, totally, I do think it’s a crowd-pleaser bound for endless success… in households across different generations of spectators. Sadly, it’s not making a big splash in cinemas, and that’s a shame — we could really use more theatrical releases like this one or The Last Duel.
At the very least, The Northman is an excellent showcase of Eggers’ skills and a promise of a bright future outside horror… as long as the stories are set in the past.
Francisco J. Ruiz is that guy who has watched Jurassic Park a thousand times and loves Star Wars. His hunger for movies is only matched by his love for video games. He graduated in English Studies from the University of Malaga, in Spain. As he keeps writing about what he enjoys (and doesn’t) for websites all over, he’s continuing his studies.
